Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have listened to the entire debate, though I was not here physically for it all. Many constructive points were made. I may not agree with them all but they had merit. Before I go through the script, I will deal with a number of points raised.

Deputy Bacik and Labour referred to HAP. “Tenant in situ” is a term used by Dublin City Council. In layman’s terms, it is for an acquisition of a property where there is a notice of termination to quit. The local authorities have been given deferred sanction. They have flexibility to make decisions on the purchase of houses where people have been served with an eviction notice and are about to be made homeless without being offered a place to live. I have checked. Circulars have issued. I will follow up on it again.

Deputy Howlin spoke about CPOs of vacant homes. In Housing for All and under the action plan, there is a determination to have 2,500 houses processed by way of CPO by the local authorities to provide them on the open market for resale. That issue is getting further clarification in the new planning Bill that is going through. It is something I feel strongly about. There will be vacant home officers in all local authorities and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, gave a commitment to people that if local authorities have a business case for additional vacant home officers, they should make the case to the Department if a particular town requires it. We want to bring these vacant homes back into action. Under the Croí Cónaithe scheme, for towns and villages alone we are looking at 2,000 houses coming back in. That is a €30,000 grant, and a €50,000 maximum grant if the house has been derelict.

Something that may have been missed is that the fair deal scheme has been changed. People often speak about that scheme and say many houses out there are not being used for rental purposes. The disregard is now 60% of rental income rather than 20%. We hope that will bring 1,200 properties back. The short-term letting scheme Bill is coming in through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. We hope that will bring 12,000 houses back into use for families and single people to live in. That is something that can be worked on.

I join Deputy Ó Ríordáin in sympathy on the passing of Niamh Bhreathnach. She brought phenomenal change in the area of education when she was Minister.

Deputy Boyd Barrett is gone. I do not know the detail of the case of Jackie and her family but people will be aware. I did not know when the tenancy was to be terminated. If it was to be terminated between the end of October of last year and 31 March this year, they cannot be evicted. I do not know the circumstances. I ask the Deputy to bring it to us so we can follow up on it.

Deputy Canney stated it is about supply and I accept that point. However, we have a plan. The plan is Housing for All and in the past year we have delivered nearly 30,000 homes. People can say it is not enough. We want more homes but it is a serious start. Many Opposition parties go on about new social housing builds. We expect new social housing builds in 2022, when the figures are finalised, will be the highest in the last half-century. That is something many parties have made a point about.

Deputy Canney also referred to coming off HAP and maybe it is something he will take up. I have tenants on HAP. I pursued the local authority to get them social housing. They are not differentiated, from my perspective, at a local level. I would like to follow up on it with the Deputy. He has been a champion of looking at ways to streamline our system in terms of public procurement and I accept that. The simplest way to build houses is to look at the current permissions that are there. There are over 70,000 houses. I do not say all of them can be built on, but we have to look. They are the ones that can be fast-tracked. With the best will in the world, for a private developer starting out on a greenfield site who has to get planning, it will take a hell of a lot longer than if that developer has an existing permission which can be activated. That is a space we in government are looking to go into.

I do not accept that we lack empathy, to which Deputy Pringle made reference. We recognise the problem. That is why we have a Housing for All plan and are bringing in various measures. The record needs to be put straight. We are bringing in a range of proposals. Deputy Verona Murphy said one size does not fit all. We are looking at the densities and taking on those points. I feel strongly that one size does not fit all.

The Planning and Development Act is comingthrough. We will look at densities. We will also look at what works and what will be built. We need apartments, but we need a range in that regard.

I will go through the issues. In the context of the vacant homes action plan, we are seeking to bring vacant residential and commercial properties back into use. The Labour Party made reference to isolating the number of properties that are vacant. We are engaged in a data collection project, which is something I will pursue with local authorities. We need action on the ground in order to compile a list of all of properties to see how we can use them. We have allocated €150 million from the urban regeneration and development fund specifically to bring vacant houses and units back into use. It is not about the public realm, although it was previously. This money is specifically for that purpose. I encourage Deputies to talk to their local authorities. This is about local authorities coming forward with plans. This will be based on their range of population. It is about all the local authorities getting there. That should be acknowledged as well.

People will talk about the 7,500 first-time buyer mortgages drawn-down in quarter 4 of 2022, which was 12.9% increase on quarter 3. We accept that landlords are leaving the market. In many cases, the properties they are selling are being bought by first-time buyers. The question for us is about how we deal with that. The cost-rental scheme is one I feel very strongly about. The rents relating to it are below 25%. Deputy Boyd Barrett made reference to Jackie and her family. The example he gave would certainly fit in with that perspective.

With the demands on tradesmen and everything else, in to double output overnight, we must be realistic and do it in a way which ensures that we have the manpower. We have gone to 30,000 this year. We are seeking to increase that figure over that for last year, and we will do so. Deputy Nash made reference to the CSO figures. Once again, we are doing the work. We have to operate on final figures. That will be done pretty shortly because the figures will be finalised soon. We have seen in a positive way that in quarter 3 of last year, there were 171,000 people in the labour workforce in construction. That was a 75% increase on last year's figure of 25,000. The numbers are going up. We are ratcheting up the limit.

The Labour Party's motion makes reference to the Acquisition of Development Land (Assessment of Compensation) Bill 2021. We ask Deputies to look at the Bill we are bringing forward in respect of land value sharing proposals. Ours is basically a plan-led system. Looking at what the Labour Party is bringing forward, we are of the view that it will be very much centred around a transaction. The State would look at the uplift in the value. We ask Deputies to look at the details of the forthcoming legislation to which I refer.

Deputy Bacik referred to the RTB, which is a matter I followed up on. People can claim the tax credit without including the RTB number. That is a matter on which we are following up with the RTB and Department of Finance in the context of the scheme.

We are putting rental inspectors into local authorities at a cost of €10 million. No one has a monopoly on wisdom on housing. We all have to work together to find the best solution. We have a plan that is working. I look forward to further debate of this matter.

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