Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I will not have time to respond to all the specific issues raised but my speech will address some of them and we will try to come back on some of the specific questions, particularly around the tenant in situ scheme and other elements that have been put forward by Deputies. Quite a number related to the tenant in situ scheme and the social affordable targets, which were raised by Deputy Seán Crowe. Deputy Mac Lochlainn requested that we meet Donegal county councillors, and I will put that to the Minister. Other comments were made by Deputy Pringle about defective concrete blocks. If I have time at the end, I will try to come in on some of those issues specifically. Other Deputies raised issues around rural housing and the rural housing guidelines. The task force in Galway was raised by Deputy Connolly. That is the responsibility of Galway County Council. Our Department puts forward the policies and funding for Housing for All but it is up to Galway County Council to respond in kind and progressively to that. Social, affordable and cost rental housing and all the usual issues have been raised. We will try to get responses on those matters to Deputies.

No one on these benches underestimates the scale of the challenges ahead. The rise in homelessness seen in recent months is of major concern to all in government. Current levels are too high. We know this but we also know that to solve a problem as long-standing and far-reaching as this, we must have a plan. Housing for All is the plan. Contained within the original document and the update launched last year are a number of actions to address the wide range of issues surrounding homelessness. Increased supply of social housing is crucial to solving the problem. When 2022 figures are finalised in the coming weeks, they will show the State delivered more social housing this year than any other year in the past half-century. We know what is needed to solve the issue and are dedicating every resource available to us to doing so.

Supply as a whole is also increasing. The figures from the first full year of Housing for All delivery not impacted by Covid-19 are also promising, with almost 30,000 homes completed in 2022. This is an increase of 45% compared with 2021 but, importantly, it is an increase of over 41% on 2019 completions, which was the last full pre-pandemic year. In 2022, almost 57,000 homes were either commenced or completed, the figures being 26,957 and 29,851, respectively. There has never been more Government funding available for housing in the history of the State. In 2016, capital funding for housing stood at €400 million. In budget 2023, €4.5 billion has been made available for the delivery of housing programmes. Some €1.3 billion will be spent on affordability measures and supporting homeownership in 2023. Budget 2023 also provides an increase of 10% on last year's funding to more than €215 million for the delivery of homeless services. In addition, €10 million in capital funding is being provided for supported emergency accommodation for families and individuals experiencing homelessness. My Department is also progressing specific actions with the regional leads and local authorities to tackle homelessness. This includes raising the income eligibility limits for social housing for the first time in more than a decade, which came into effect on 1 January 2023. Eligibility thresholds in local authorities have been increased by €5,000.

The past year has seen some extraordinary challenges arising from the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and rising interest rates, as raised by Deputies today. It was important to build in the provisions to make sure the plan stayed relevant over its lifetime and kept focus on the core issues and challenges we face. That is why we committed to reviewing Housing for All annually. At the start of November 2022 we published the first annual review of the plan. The updated plan identified 33 priority actions that will directly or indirectly support the supply of well-built sustainable homes for people. It will activate and accelerate the delivery of housing supply while also continuing to deliver on the fundamental reforms set out in the plan. The flexibility is present throughout every aspect of the plan. Housing for All currently sets out annual targets of overall housing delivery to 2030. This clearly shows us building up towards 40,000 homes per year. We cannot simply go from 2,000 new homes per year to 40,000 overnight. We need to expand the industry and build capacity, and that is exactly what Housing for All is aiming to do. The motion calls for our targets to be reviewed and they will be. We will be updating the population and housing projection model as part of the first revision of the national planning framework, which is commencing shortly. This will inform the updating of targets and will commence following the publication of the final census data later this year.

The motion calls for an expansion of the tenant in situ scheme, as raised by a number of Deputies. The Government is already acting in this regard. The Department is supporting local authorities to acquire homes for social housing for priority purposes. This includes acquisitions which support a household to exit homelessness or with tenants in situ to prevent homelessness. On 28 November, my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, wrote to all local authority chief executives advising of his intention to continue the delegated sanction for the whole duration of the emergency winter eviction ban and up to the end of the transition period of June 2023.

Another key pillar of our response for those suffering from the sharpest edges of homelessness is Housing First. This programme is one of the key responses in ending long-term homelessness among those with complex health and mental health needs. It provides the most vulnerable of our homeless population with a home for life as well as key wraparound health and social supports. Under the plan, an additional 1,319 supported tenancies are to be delivered nationally over the next five years.

The motion highlights the eviction ban, which was introduced to give renters facing homelessness as much protection as possible during the winter period. The winter eviction ban is a short-term emergency measure. It affords time for increased housing supply to come on stream and to reduce the burden on homeless services and the pressure on tenants and the residential tenancies market. While there are no plans to bring forward further legislative proposals at the moment, we continue to monitor closely the operation of the rental market and the Residential Tenancies Acts as well as any further measures that might be required while further additional supply comes on stream.

We know the rental market is not working for many of its participants right now. That is why my Department has commenced a comprehensive review of the private rental sector to take account of the significant regulatory changes over recent years. The review, which will be completed by the end of June 2023, will ensure our housing system provides an efficient, affordable, safe and secure framework for both landlords and tenants.

We also know that the lack of supply and, in particular, the supply of rental properties speaks to the core of the problem. We are exploring every possible avenue which might result in added supply, and that is why on 7 December last, the Government approved the priority drafting of the registration of short-term tourist letting Bill and the publication of the general scheme of the Bill. The new register will help to ensure properties built for residential accommodation will be used for that purpose, and Fáilte Ireland estimates that up to 12,000 properties could come back into the long-term rental market or residential housing market as a result.

The motion calls for the use of new building technologies and planning powers to deliver increased supply of homes, and that is exactly what the Government is doing. The Housing for All action plan update, which was published on 2 November, includes a new action to develop a roadmap with targets for increased use of modern methods of construction, MMC, in public housing. My Department is now working closely with local authorities to increase the use of modern methods of construction in social and affordable housing. To this end, funding of €94 million has been provided to local authorities to address legacy land debts in December 2022. The provision of the funding was linked to the immediate development of a housing proposal, a commitment to use MMC, and construction to start in 2023 or not later than 2024. Local authorities received funding for 26 sites which will be part of an accelerated delivery programme with additional sites since added. Overall, approximately 30 sites have been identified for accelerated delivery, involving more than 1,500 new social homes.

The Government is introducing provisions for the recent Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Act 2022 which, once commenced, will provide a temporary exemption from the Part 8 planning approval process by elected members for local authority-owned developments for social and affordable housing, including cost rental housing. This new provision, which is a time-limited arrangement to help expedite the provision of housing by local authorities in the context of the need to increase housing supply, will be mandatory for local authorities in strictly defined circumstances where certain criteria are satisfied. This provision has the potential to shave months off the process and is a testament to the fact that when it comes to solving the crisis, nothing is off the table.

Addressing vacancy and dereliction is another top priority for this Government. That is why the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, launched our new vacant homes action plan and details of the new €150 million urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, vacancy fund. The action plan provides for more detail and measures which my Department will implement over the coming years to bring more vacant and derelict residential and commercial properties back into use as homes. This includes a roll-out of the data collection project across all local authorities to capture accurate vacancy data and further support for our full-time role of vacant housing officers.

We have achieved much in the 15 months since Housing for All was published but we know there is still a long road ahead. We will continue to do everything in our power to increase affordability, improve the rental market, eradicate homelessness, address vacancy and fix the housing system for generations to come. Certainly, we welcome positive proposals from the Opposition, which is an important part of the collective work of this Oireachtas in addressing the housing crisis.

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