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

I move:

That Standing Order 187 is modified in accordance with Standing Order 233(2) to provide that it be an instruction to the Committee in relation to the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023, that the Committee has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing subject matter of the Bill in relation to:

• the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments Act) 2004) to provide that consultation is required with the Public Appointments Service rather than the Commission for Public Service Appointments prior to declaring qualifications for posts in local authorities that fall within the remit of section 160(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 2001;
• the Local Government Act 2001 to ensure that qualifications declared by the Minister under section 160 of the Act prior to the commencement of the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Act 2023 shall not be affected by reason only that consultation with the Commission for Public Service Appointments did not take place;
• the Local Government Act 2001 to provide that any legal proceedings challenging a declaration made under section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 prior to the commencement of the relevant section of the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Act 2023 will not be affected by this amendment;
• the Affordable Housing Act of 2021 to confirm Fresh Start as provided for in Section 10(3) and 10(5) in the Act, as allowing for the previous ownership of more than the one dwelling in the case of divorce/separation, and in the case of bankruptcy or insolvency, essentially wiping a person’s previous ownership record; the definition of the Fresh Start would be broadened to effectively re-set to First Time Buyer status in the case of divorce/separation and bankruptcy/insolvency;

and to make other consequential amendments required to take account of the changes above.

The purpose of this motion is to instruct the Dáil, in committee, that Standing Order 187 is modified in accordance with Standing Order 233(2) to provide that the committee has the power to make amendments to the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023 which are outside the existing subject matter of the Bill.

As set out in the motion, there are amendments to the Local Government Act 2001 and the Affordable Housing Act 2021. The local government-related amendments do not introduce any policy change and are technical or clarifying in nature. A core role of my Department is to support and enable democratic, responsive and effective local government. To deliver this role, my Department has a number of functions, including ensuring the local government sector is enabled to manage workforce requirements to meet evolving business and public needs more efficiently.

The Local Government Act 2001 , in section 160, provides the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with the power to declare qualifications for roles in the local government sector. The Act sets out the steps to be taken by the Minister in the process for declaring qualifications, including prior consultation. The amendments proposed to section 160(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 2001 are to correct what may have been a technical error at the time section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 was amended in section 6(1) of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. The amendment changed the original body the Minister is required to consult when declaring qualifications for certain local government roles from the Local Appointments Commissioners to the Commission for Public Service Appointments. However, this should in fact have been changed to the Public Appointments Service and, since 2004, consultation has inadvertently been taking place with the Public Appointments Service. Both the Public Appointments Service and the Commission for Public Service Appointments were established in 2004 and the Local Appointments Commission was dissolved at that point. The Public Appointments Service assumed the role previously undertaken by the Local Appointments Commissioners with regard to the recruitment of senior roles in the local government sector. The role of the Commission for Public Service Appointments is as the principal regulator of recruitment and selection in the Irish public service. It is now intended to amend the Local Government Act to reflect the consultation practice that has been in operation and ensure the validity of earlier declarations which will not be held to be invalid by reason only of the fact that consultation with the Commission for Public Service Appointments did not take place. It is also intended to include a specific provision which provides that the amendment will not affect any legal cases that are in being or extant.

The affordable housing-related amendments seek to clarify and better define the policy intent of fresh start and the practical implementation of the principle. Housing for All delivers on the programme for Government commitment to step up housing supply and put affordability at the heart of the housing system. Housing for All sets out the policy objective of the fresh start principle, which is to enable people who are divorced or separated or who have undergone bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings and no longer have a financial interest in the family home to be eligible to apply for affordable housing schemes. The outcome of the fresh start principle is to effectively bring a person back to the status of a first-time buyer in order for them to be able to apply for an affordable home. The fresh start principle forms a key element in Housing for All and has been applied across the affordable and mortgage schemes run by the Department. With respect to the local authority affordable purchase scheme, the application of the fresh start principle is set out in legislation in section 10 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021. Since the passage of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 and in light of the application of the fresh start principle, the proposed amendments seek to offer additional clarity as to the application of fresh start. It is proposed to amend section 10(3) and section 10(5) of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 so that a relevant fresh start event will reset a person’s status to first-time buyer after divorce or separation, or bankruptcy or insolvency, in the case of the local authority affordable purchase scheme, regardless of the number of previous properties a person may have owned. To be eligible for fresh start an applicant must have lost, as part of the fresh start event, the family home or principal primary residence and the applicant must not own, or have a beneficial entitlement to an estate or interest in, any dwelling in the State or elsewhere. Increasing affordable and private housing supply for those looking to purchase a home is key to improving our housing system and this change forms a further part of the overall response to current and emerging affordability needs.

I ask for the support of the Members of the House for this motion to enable these important amendments to be tabled.

See this speech in context