Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)

I thank the Independent Technical Group and Deputy Fitzmaurice for bringing forward this motion. We are six months into this new Government. There is no sight of the new housing plan until September. There are no new housing targets for local authorities. We expect that on Friday we will have record homelessness. There are no rural planning guidelines. They were apparently with the Attorney General since last summer and the average price of a second-hand home is now €600,000. I want to raise the PPP withdrawal because it is really concerning. At the time, Government was told by many people on this side of the House that this was a flawed model and poor value for money. Instead of pursuing another funding mechanism at the time for these housing projects, it drove on until the eleventh hour until a contractor was essentially appointed and then pulled it. We now have a situation where there is funding for 500 badly needed homes. That is 500 so far because we have no certainty or clarity on the further bundles. We need certainty and clarity on this. When and how will these homes be delivered? I do not understand, because bundle 3 went through gateway approval in November. Why was the value for money approved on this in November and then subsequently pulled in May? How did it go through the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform's approval process and then stop? It does not make any sense. I am concerned that the State will open itself up to litigation on this. Bundles 4, 5, 6 and 7 represent the guts of 3,000 homes. We need clarity on these further bundles. In my city of Limerick, we have a PPP under way under bundle 7 in Toppins Field, which is a mix of social and affordable housing. Will this project continue? Will this continue as a PPP? What is going to happen to the PPP model going forward? I know my own local authority has said it finds the NDFA excellent to deal with as a delivery partner.

On the substance of the motion, I welcome the majority of the contents. It is a common-sense motion. It is grounded in fact and many of its points merit serious consideration. The motion calls for a dedicated housing delivery acceleration task force.

11 o’clock

I believe the template for this already exists in the housing delivery oversight executive proposed by the Housing Commission. This would take the form of a time-limited decision-making entity within the Department of the Taoiseach underpinned by legislation to unlock the blockages in infrastructure, zoned land and planning. However, the Government's proposal of a strategic housing activation office with no statutory power will amount to little more than another quango.

Very often, the issue with the delivery of housing lies in the availability of adequate infrastructure with sufficient capacity in areas where land is zoned. I will give an example in my city of Limerick. We recently had a development of 250 homes in the suburb of Mungret. This is a partnership between the Land Development Agency and Limerick City and County Council. The development has been basically in limbo since March because of a €5 million shortfall in the delivery of infrastructure on the site. In the overall context, €5 million is a tiny sum of money and it is holding up the delivery of 250 homes.

When I raised this with the Minister by way of parliamentary question, I was told Limerick City and County Council has advised the Minister that a funding requirement has arisen in relation to enabling infrastructure at Mungret - that infrastructure being a link road and a plaza - and that Limerick City and County Council was considering the matter with a view to bringing forward a funding proposal in due course. I spoke to Limerick City and County Council and was told it submitted a business case to the Department two months ago and is still awaiting a decision - that is for €5 million. This land received planning permission in 2024 and this partnership was announced 14 months ago. The council's ask was also sent to the Taoiseach's office and the Department of public expenditure as part of the national development plan review and it still has not heard anything. This land is on the grounds of the former Mungret College, is owned by Limerick City and County Council and is part of the wider Mungret framework area. The framework aims to unlock substantial lands in public and private ownership and allow construction of residential development supported by community and employment use.

The LDA has also acquired a significant land bank throughout the city, particularly on Carey's Road. I know an ask has been submitted to the Department for €200 million in funding for infrastructure as this is a complicated brownfield site. There is potential to unlock between 2,800 and 4,000 homes.

This is a complete emergency; it is not a crisis any more. However, there is no sense of urgency within the Minister of State's Department about dealing with it as an emergency. That is why we need a unit within the Department of the Taoiseach to grab this by the horns. These issues do not involve attracting private sector investment, as we have debated back and forth in this House in recent weeks. This is pure dysfunction within the Department of housing. It is not able to throughput things and make decisions in a timely manner. This has been going on for years and is getting worse. Things are going into the Department and being stuck there for an inordinate time.

Infrastructure and the need to fund it properly are at the crux of this motion. From my and the Labour Party's point of view, Government must ensure Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks are sufficiently resourced to support delivery of the housing we need. I and my colleague, Deputy Nash, had a briefing with Uisce Éireann recently. It was sobering. Ringsend will be at capacity within two years. Greater Dublin drainage has been mired in planning difficulty since 2018. It highlights how as a country we have gone wrong in planning. We are not able to throughput big infrastructure projects in a timely manner without things being mired in judicial review and taking years upon years. Uisce Éireann has been clear with us about its ask to deal with the State's creaking water infrastructure up to 2029. I seriously urge Government to commit to fully funding Uisce Éireann's strategic funding plan and to allocate multi-annual ring-fenced funding of €2 billion for water and wastewater capacity to enable housing and growth. That is €1.7 billion plus €300 million. If we are serious about delivering housing and building up the country's capacity in terms of infrastructure, it is essential we take these measures.

I agree with much of what is proposed in the motion. There is far too much objection going on. There is far too much in terms of planning that is being decided by the courts. I sincerely hope that when Government commences fully the Planning and Development Act 2024, it will actually deal with this. This is the biggest crisis we face and it permeates everything we do in this country. I raised a Topical Issue here last night and listened to Deputy Gallagher talk about the A5 road being decided by the courts in the North. The fact of the matter is planning has become far too judicious in recent years and I hope the new Planning and Development Act will deal with this.

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