Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Figures published in the Housing for All: Q4 2022 Progress Report at the start of this month showed 29,851 new homes were completed in the first full calendar year of the plan, exceeding the target by 20%. Construction started on 27,000 new homes in the year, the second highest since 2014. Strong activity has also been seen in the area of mortgage approvals, particularly for first-time buyers, with recently published data showing first-time buyer volumes at their highest levels since 2007. Yet, there are many people right now who do not have a home.

While the Government's ten-year housing plan may bring relief in the long term, more immediate action is needed to relieve the burden on renters. Many people pay more in rent than they would if they had a mortgage. Figures released by property website,Daft.ie, show that market rents have risen by 11.1% in Louth and 11.9% in Meath, where the average rents are €1,550 and €1,706, respectively, up 143% from the lowest point during the last recession. People are being priced out of buying a home and nearly half of people's wages are being paid in rent. However, the private rental market is persistently being starved of homes. Of the 1,096 properties available to rent on 1 February, there were 17 properties available in the whole of County Louth on the Daft.iewebsite, a county with a population of 139,100. This is down over 20% on the same date last year.

We need to ensure the temporary eviction ban is extended. People are queuing down the street for a room and the number of people being made homeless is unreal. The fact is that the Government had hoped the ban would lead to homeless numbers falling but they have continued to rise, albeit at a slower rate. A young woman and two children came to my constituency office yesterday and pleaded with me to contact the Housing Agency, which I did. Within the space of two hours, 114 people had sought accommodation. Things have become really serious. It is time all parties got together and had one working group. When faced with an acute shortage of rental homes, which shows little signs of abating, this must serve as a wake-up call to the Government to work together to come up with innovative ideas for the provision of more homes.

Louth is not alone in experiencing these issues. In fairness, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, came to Dundalk in January, where I introduced him to a local developer who has planning permission for more than 500 houses and is willing to put up between 150 and 200 modular homes. This is definitely a step in the right direction and the type of innovative thinking we need to engage in.

The scale of the housing needs is such that we have to make progress on planning permissions and housing projects that are well designed. I submitted a priority question recently regarding planning permission in rural Ireland. Daily, I meet constituents who are being rejected left, right and centre, sometimes for very vague reasons. I do not understand this. There have been too many objections over recent years and these objections do not match the crisis. Everybody needs a change of mindset in view of the enormous challenges facing us in housing.

All in government can agree that the current planning system should be changed, especially considering the conflict of interest claims and the eradication of the public’s trust in An Board Pleanála last year. I welcome the publication of the Planning and Development Bill 2022, which was approved by the Cabinet late last year. The Bill will bring greater clarity, consistency and certainty to how planning decisions are made, making the planning system more coherent and user-friendly for the public and planning practitioners. No additional delays should be imposed. We need to ensure this legislation is fit for purpose, successfully progresses through the next stages and is enacted as quickly as possible to facilitate planning approvals and developments.

I have a major issue with vacant homes in Louth and east Meath. I welcome the €61 million investment in vacant homes in the budget, as well as section 84 of the Finance Bill, which introduced new legislation for a vacant homes tax. In this year of crisis, we must ensure that all houses are fully utilised. We need to re-market the advantages of this in order to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase. This provision will hopefully encourage the owners of long-term habitable vacant residential properties that are subject to local property tax to bring those properties back into use. However, it does not apply to derelict or uninhabitable properties. We need to reconsider this. I have previously highlighted the work of Louth County Council in bringing derelict vacant properties back into the housing stock. I know from my dealings with the council that the only thing holding Louth County Council back is the lack of funding from the Government. Why do we continue to keep these houses vacant? Let us not forget that as well as Irish citizens, we need to consider the long-term consequences and requirements in regard to housing tens of thousands of vulnerable people fleeing the war in Ukraine. We need to do more within this measure to ensure that all vacant housing is utilised. What I ask is that instead of us all playing political football, we all work together in this House.

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