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

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions, and I am grateful for the opportunity to close the debate for the Government on the People Before Profit-Solidarity Rent Reduction Bill 2023. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, stated earlier, the Government opposes the Bill for the reasons he outlined, which I will summarise.

A similar Bill was debated last July, so, contrary to statements there has not been debate on the issue, there has been. Furthermore, fundamentally, we believe the Bill will bring about a reduction in the supply of rented properties, particularly from smaller landlords. We deem that the Bill would be subject to legal challenge in respect of its constitutionality. It would appear Sinn Féin has concerns in that area as well, yet it appears to support the Bill. It is typical of Sinn Féin, sitting on the head of a pin. There is no defined period for or the subject of a review, which would normally be the case for any temporary measure. There is no provision for the appropriate size of the property. The proposers of the Bill do not distinguish in terms of income, so someone on a very high income could qualify for the 25% calculation as well. There appears to be no provision in respect of the balance between tenant and landlord. The RTB does not appear to figure in the Bill. The Members propose to set up a new authority but it does not in any way involve the RTB. Fundamentally, we believe the Bill would have an impact on supply. There is the issue as to how "local" will be defined. How will the Bill integrate with HAP and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS? Fundamentally, we want to achieve our housing targets. We exceeded them last year, with nearly 30,000 units built nationally, including 10,263 social homes, 7,433 of which were new builds. Deputy Joan Collins made reference to that earlier.

Seventy per cent of landlords have only one house - they are small landlords - while 86% own one or two houses. The greater majority of the market, therefore, is made up of people we know. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae made reference to Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. People will talk. Seventy-five per cent of tenants are protected within the rent pressure zones that were brought in 2019. Over recent years the rate of increase has been small. As for people who are outside those zones, and Daft has published on this, they are new tenancies, not existing tenancies. It is 2% per annum if inflation is higher than that figure until 2024, and for someone outside the RPZs, there can be an increase only once every two years. That should provide protection for them.

I will deal with a couple of the points that were raised. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan made reference to people being told to go to Garda stations. I followed up on that case, which was raised by Sinn Féin. That was a mistake. The local authority came back and said that someone put out that information inadvertently. The first place people go to is their local authority. We have set up schemes. We do not want scaremongering. We do not want the view to go out that everyone should go to their local Garda station. We are giving resources to local authorities to deal with people who find themselves in difficulty in the rental market. If they are HAP or RAS tenants, they go to their local authority, and the local authority can purchase the home and keep them in the home. The numbers appear to be quite high. We want them to be exceeded. We have provided for 1,500 homes under that scheme. We want that to be exceeded, and there is no question of funding.

If I may put to rest another matter that has come up, Deputy Mairéad Farrell made reference to tenants living or renting in a different local authority area from the one in respect of which they are on the housing list. The County and City Management Association, CCMA, is preparing a protocol in order that local authorities will interact with one another to ensure that if someone is renting in a different local authority area from the one in respect of which they are on the housing list, the house will be purchased in the local authority area they are in. That is being developed and is more or less finalised. There have been discussions already among the local authorities, including Dublin authorities. Also, a cross-sectoral steering group on acquisitions has been established, headed by a former CEO of a local authority. It involves the CCMA, the Housing Agency, the housing delivery co-ordination office in the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and the Irish Council for Social Housing. If, therefore, there are any issues with purchase of homes, that matter will very much be looked at. We feel very strongly about that.

Furthermore, as for tenants above the social housing income limits, a matter which also came up, we now have a bespoke model whereby tenants can go to their local authority. The scheme is administered by the Housing Agency and, effectively, it is up to the local authority to look at people's personal circumstances as to whether they are deemed to be at risk of being homeless and, if they are, the Housing Agency will purchase that home for them. What we really want here is for the funding to be provided, and it is all about supply.

People made reference to the measures launched yesterday by the Government. We make no apology for them. We want further homes to be built for people. Whether the house is built directly by the council or built on behalf of the council by a private builder, the person will not question who built the home. They just want the home. Yesterday we announced three measures. One was the effective suspension of development levies and water connection charges for a period of a year. In layman's terms, if a development is commenced from today onwards up to 24 April of next year, the development has to be completed by 31 December 2025. Deputy Collins made reference to the levies being passed on. This is primarily an activation measure, and the Deputy is probably aware that development levies do not apply to social or affordable homes or developments. Water connection charges do. As for social and affordable housing, we provide specific guidance on costs, and we will track the water connection charges.

We would also like to see builders passing on the reduction in development contributions, but the primary purpose here is to get activated current planning permissions that have yet to be activated and that are live and to get those units built.

Croí Cónaithe was not mentioned. That is in respect of existing buildings and vacant units. We have increased the amount from €30,000 to €50,000 where a property is vacant for two years and from €50,000 to €70,000 for houses deemed to be derelict. It will apply to units built before 2007 rather than 1993, which is currently the position. This will all apply from 1 May. Furthermore, we are going to make the scheme available for rental units. Any individual will be able to claim only once as an owner-occupier, and once for a rental property. This is not a scheme for wide-scale, large investors. It is about getting houses restored and people living in them. I am surprised I did not hear an endorsement of it here today. We are looking at a particular further grant for making the cost-rental scheme more viable. Deputy Boyd Barrett can smirk but ultimately----

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