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

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I will come back on some of the points that have been raised since I took over duty for the debate. Many of the points that have been raised did not relate to the content of the Bill. Deputy Michael Collins raised issues about rural housing, rural planning infrastructure and the Bantry floods. The Government notes the concerns of the communities affected by the floods. The Minister visited the area over the weekend.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae mentioned single cottages. From a heritage perspective, we have invested through Croí Cónaithe and other schemes to try to support communities and allow them to restore many old traditional cottages. The Heritage Council was in receipt of an award yesterday for some of the work it is doing in that regard. The Deputy mentioned An Taisce and will have the opportunity to have a go at the organisation again tomorrow if he wishes when the Rural Independent Group's Planning and Development (An Taisce) Bill is before the House. I note that the work has been done. There has been investment in rural Ireland, including through public transport and agricultural schemes to support rural communities. I dispute what the Deputy said.

Deputy Nolan raised issues with the regulatory authority. I welcome her comments about monitoring progress.

Deputy Pringle raised issues with AHBs. They are an important part of our housing delivery network. They are highly valued and provide accommodation and support to maintain tenancies across the country. They are an important part of the housing delivery ecosystem.

Deputy Connolly raised a number of points about Galway and the Peter McVerry Trust. I will not make any response to the latter point, which is a separate matter that could be discussed at a committee meeting or elsewhere. She also raised the issue of the delivery of housing in Galway, which she has raised on a number of occasions.

I take on board the points raised by Deputy Wynne in connection with County Clare. If there are matters the Deputy wishes to bring to the attention of the Department, specifically around ineligibility, I ask her to do so. I note that there is flexibility around the income thresholds, as far as I am aware. I note the points she made.

The two elements of this miscellaneous Bill, though they do very different things, both contribute in their own way to the Government's overall strategy under Housing for All, of which the work of AHBs forms a critical element. The amendments to the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 aim to achieve three policy objectives. The first is to permanently register all deemed registered AHBs. This will ensure existing AHBs will remain within the regulatory environment and remove the need to make constitutional changes, which would have required significant restructuring in the sector, adding additional cost and complications at a time when the development of social housing under Housing for All is an absolute priority. The second objective is to amend the definition of the "alleviation of a housing need" to accurately reflect the properties that should fall into regulation and to ensure assets supported by State investment remain regulated into the future. The third objective is to remove references to the required constitutional changes which link these changes to the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority powers. This amendment ensures the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority's powers are linked to the function of an AHB and provision of dwellings for the alleviation of a housing need.

The amendments of the Affordable Housing Act regarding cost rental, just over three years after that legislation was enacted, represent a widening of the scope for Ireland's newest housing sector. It is something we championed in the programme for Government and it is very important. Although cost rental is still at an early stage, valuable lessons have been learned from the practical experience of providing this new form of housing and the numbers speak to the success. Almost 1,800 new homes had been delivered for cost rental by the end of the first quarter of this year. Setting different eligibility criteria for different compositions of households will assist in making a reality of multiple occupancy cost-rental homes, whereby two or more unrelated adults come together to access the benefits of cost rental and share the burden of the overall rent. As Deputies will be aware, this not only makes the necessary cost-covering rent more affordable for each of those sharing tenants but also reflects the reality of how people, especially young people, come together to operate in the wider rental market today. While cost rental will continue to be an invaluable support for accommodating family units, the benefits of cost rental should be accessible to the full range of household types. The detailed arrangements for multiple occupancy tenancies will be implemented through regulations that will be presented to the Oireachtas in due course. I look forward to working closely with cost-rental providers to draw upon their valuable and practical experience when drafting this secondary legislation.

The allocation plans for cost-rental homes will give scope for greater flexibility and efficiency in the sector where this is judged to be appropriate. When cost rental was first launched, in late 2021, the legislation set out a one-size-fits-all approach to tenanting these homes because simplicity was then of primary concern. Now that the sector is up and running, there may be a cause to allow a broader range of tenanting practices for individual projects. For example, cost-rental providers may seek to prioritise those with a link to an area, a previous residence, a place of employment or the place of their children's education. This was not possible under the existing legislation. At the same time, there may be merit in varying the standard tenanting approach to handle the very high numbers of applicants and avoid long delays in filling tenancies.

These allocation plans will always be subject to the approval of the Minister, and the general practices set out in the existing legislation will continue to be the default for the sector. Everyone involved is mindful of the need to avoid needlessly overcomplicating matters, and the legislation does not require that allocation plans are always used or immediately put in place. The take-up of allocation plans by providers may be slow initially but this new legislation gives scope for the cost-rental sector in Ireland to evolve and develop further.

The other enabling amendments for cost rental will provide for the unique case of a tenant in situ, for example, under the Department's current scheme for renters facing the risk of homelessness due to the sale of a property. These provisions allow a tenant in situ to remain in place through the cost-rental designation of a property, dispensing with the advertising of a vacancy in that case while at the same time ensuring, over the long term, all general provisions governing the cost-rental sector will apply as normal.

I thank all Deputies for their engagement on this Bill and look forward to the discussions on Committee Stage.

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