Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith ag an Leas-Cheann Comhairle, ag an Aire agus ag Teachta Healy chun a bheith in ann caint sa díospóireacht seo. I will make just a couple of points possibly by way of solution. Number one is to deal with the most recent planning Act around commencements. Currently when planning permission is granted there is five years to construct. If the commencement period was altered to within 18 months anybody applying for planning permission would already have financing place. We have an active situation in Ratoath, County Meath, where it not about land hoarding but it is actually planning permission hoarding. The permission is being sat on and then moved on just at the eleventh hour.

A second possible suggestion is vis-à-vis the live-over-the-shop scheme, which is part of the programme for Government. Similar to section 23 in the past, it would have very targeted conditions, possibly age friendly or possibly housing appropriate for ages 25 to 45. This would be multipurpose in terms of passive surveillance in town and city centres. It would also bring older people closer to communities, to medical services and to all of the State services they might require. A possible amendment to the planning Act would be required vis-à-vis fire safety regulations, which is all possible.

There are two examples I would cite. I will always look to other jurisdictions, whether it is in respect of neurolinguistic programming or otherwise, and ask who is in a similar situation and where best practice is. The Danish andelsboligmodel entails a type of mutual homeownership but specifically involves repurposing former commercial or heritage properties. Effectively, there is a collective mortgage rather than individual mortgages, and mutual home ownership society members contribute financially on the basis of their income levels. A typical contribution is 35% of net household income.

Closer to home is the example of the low-impact living affordable community, LILAC, project in Leeds. Bizarrely, I was given this information seven or eight years ago at a briefing that former Minister, Eoghan Murphy held here for councillors. Again, the model is based on mutual home ownership. This is an area that is forgotten and that I referenced in my contribution on the programme for Government. Hostel provision in the commuter counties is a sad reflection of where we are but it is necessary in the stepwise approach to accommodation. County Wicklow, in particular, is served, as is County Kildare, but County Meath has no hostel accommodation. It is not that this is a direction we want to be going in, but where people are vulnerable with addiction and mental health problems and where there are revolving-door circumstances, a hostel is probably one of the first steps in providing emergency accommodation.

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