Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)

I have been deeply shocked by these regulations and these new standards the Minister is introducing. As an academic, I did research for years. One of the starting points of research, of course, is gathering evidence. Policy is supposed to be evidence-based. The evidence that has been presented to justify these decisions does not stack up. The Government has claimed it will lead to savings of €50,000 to €100,000 per unit. We have not seen what the LDA has set out but in the estimates set out by the Department of housing, those claims that €100,000 will be saved do not stack up. We have heard clearly from other experts in the private sector who say that those savings will not be made.

One piece is completely missing. Where is the evidence that these regulations will lead to savings for those who are going to rent the homes or, although it is highly unlikely, buy such an apartment? No mechanism is set out by which this decision, which will allow developers or investor funds to add more units to a development, will present any reduction in rents or house prices, which is what we are trying to do.

I will set out in detail what has been presented by those experts - not by me but by others who work directly in the field. Something that disappoints me deeply about these regulations is that there was no consultation with key stakeholders. Perhaps the Minister could correct the record if that is not the case. Those stakeholders include, in particular, architects and planners. I am deeply frustrated and annoyed by these regulations. They are a capitulation to the developer and investor lobby. I do not know whether the Minister believes in them, but they are shocking. It feels as if the young people who will have to live in these homes are not being considered or thought of. It is, in my estimation, purely about two things. Those are increasing the profitability for investors and developers and pushing up the Government's figures for the housing statistics. That is deeply cynical and disappointing. I contend that the Minister is playing politics with the homes that people will have to live in. I do not say that lightly Ramming through this legislation will mean that generations of Irish people will be paying high rents to live in dark shoeboxes. It is a failure of vision and ambition when we see what is happening here. Every act of this Government so far has, it states, been intended to try to increase supply. Where is the supply of affordable housing?

Let us look at what is actually being proposed here. The size of units is being reduced. Windows, balconies and community facilities are being removed. I want to read into the record the assessment of the changes by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. That organisation, as I am sure the Minister is aware, is the body that registers architects and represents their views. As the organisation describes, it works across the full breadth of construction, playing a vital role in the public and private sectors. It is at the forefront of designing and delivering the homes, schools, workplaces and civic spaces that shape our communities and projects that prioritise sustainability, safety and quality of life. These architects, it could be argued, might benefit from the redesign of these guidelines because it will mean more work for them. Yet the institute came out with a damning statement, which I will read into the record. It stated: "The recent statements [in regard to the apartment guidelines] appear to suggest a shift in direction to lower-quality solutions driven by short term expediency [and what it means there is political expediency] rather than long term vision and sustainable solutions that [create and] deliver real value for money."

It went on to state:

It is critical that we get this right. We are deeply concerned that moves to relax key design safeguards risk undermining the creation of sustainable, high-quality living environments and will create future long-term challenges for apartment owners and tenants.

I will come back to this in the context of the Department's policy and guidelines on creating sustainable communities. The institute goes on to state:

The new guidance will allow for development of apartment blocks with single typologies which is completely at odds with the previous work of the Department of Housing to strengthen the sustainable communities approach to delivering homes.

On that, I quote the Government's own policy, Housing for All, which I looked up earlier today. Section 5.2 relates to the aim to support sustainable communities. What does this mean? The policy sets it out as:

The creation of sustainable communities has been an enduring goal of housing policy in recent decades. Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work.

The second sentence bears repeating. These will not be places where people will want to live and work. The Government's policy further states: "They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment and contribute to high quality of life." Architects and planners all make it very clear that these new guidelines will be detrimental to the quality of life provided in these new apartment blocks.

The Government's own Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements: Guidelines for Planning Authorities has among its key indicators quality design and placemaking. The document sets out "indicators of quality urban design and placemaking, which should inform the development strategy for settlements, neighbourhoods or an individual site". Within that, it points to what should be done in planning and design:

The creation of sustainable communities ... requires a diverse mix of housing and variety in residential densities across settlements. This will require a focus on the delivery of innovative housing types that can facilitate compact growth and provide greater housing choice that responds to the needs of single people, families, older people and people with disabilities ...

These groups will not be catered for in these mono-tenure micro-units that nobody will be able to afford.

I will go back to the Royal Institute of Architects. I am reading this in detail into the record because it was utterly mistaken not to meet the institute's representatives - again, the Minister can correct me if he did meet them - to discuss these guidelines and take its points of view on board. I am also quoting it for the benefit of him and his advisers because I imagine they actually have not read this. Maybe they have, but they certainly did not consider what is in here, so we will continue. The RIAI states: "There is evidence that, over time, the cumulative effects of poorly sized and designed homes can contribute to social inequality and reduce overall productivity." The Department's new guidelines, "may also diminish Ireland's international competitiveness, particularly in retaining talent who value quality of life". This idea that the Government will build apartments that are micro-units and that are really expensive and that the international mobile professionals will just pay the rents is actually wrong. Everyone values and needs a quality of life. The RIAI also states: "The new proposals ... risk causing further delays to delivery of new housing projects as options are reassessed and new designs commissioned, which will take time to work through."

Other Deputies on this side made that point as well. Again, we ask: where was the analysis done to actually assess what delays will result as these changes are made and the modifications are required? Architects will have two years to work up new designs that might have been started. I was talking to an architect yesterday who said, in terms of social housing and private housing, they expect to go back to the drawing board. Literally, the architects expect to go back to the drawing board to redesign the units. That will all take time, and it means that developments that were due to start will not now start. The Minister does not mind, however, because he has set out that the Department will not reach its targets this year and will not reach them next year and he knows that these units will come onstream probably in three to four years, just in time for the election, when he will be able to say, "Look, we have increased the units." Again, he is playing politics with people's homes.

In a very significant paragraph the RIAI further stated:

The RIAI agrees that action is urgently needed to accelerate housing delivery; however, there are other ways of addressing this. In Dublin, land prices are one of the single biggest contributors to the high cost of building homes, partly driven by speculation on land assets as a commodity. While not the only factor, they significantly affect affordability, feasibility, and development timelines. The RIAI believes a better, and more sustainable approach, is for the government to seek greater control of land values in the first instance.

We see no emergency measures on land values. Where are they? Intervention on providing affordable land would reduce the cost and then, if affordable housing were to be built on it, could deliver genuinely affordable homes.

The RIAI also states:

Making better use of existing infrastructure that already benefits from essential services ... presents a real opportunity to speed up supply. In this regard, we need to continue incentivising the adaptation and reuse of existing vacant and derelict buildings ..., including vacant office spaces. (*The vacancy rate for Dublin office spaces is now at 17.5% .... The RIAI is advocating for increased resources to be deployed within our local ... authorities to kick start immediate progress in this ... area.

The RIAI has more but I will not take up the Minister's time on it.

I will go on to the Irish Planning Institute, the representatives of which I do not believe the Minister met or consulted either as regards these guidelines, but he can correct the record if that is not the case. I would be very interested to hear the institute's feedback on this. As regards the guidelines, Gavin Lawlor, president of the institute, said: "Professional planners not only recognise the gravity of the housing crisis - we are actively working to be part of the solution."

The Minister can smirk and smile. I am not sure-----

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