Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Government's housing plan, delivering homes, building communities. I thank the Minister for his opening remarks. As has been said, this is a very ambitious plan. We know the overall target is 300,000 houses between now and 2030, with 12,000 social homes and 15,000 starter homes. These are critically important. This is a plan of substance and actions. There are up to 80 actions in this plan. No single action will deliver what we want, but if we combine them all together, it will result in significant action in my opinion. It is building on the announcements already made by this Minister and this Government in recent months, such as extending planning permissions that were about to expire, resourcing the planning system so we get faster and more efficient planning decisions, resourcing the Land Development Agency, and we know there is an additional €2.5 billion, which is significant funding, simplifying the approval processes in the Department so we have faster decisions in terms of housing approvals and, of course, the Housing Activation Office working actively with the 31 local authorities in helping to deliver homes. These are critical measures and this plan will build on that.

It provides record funding through the revised national development plan, with €102 billion between now and 2030. This will provide critical investment in water, wastewater, energy, key infrastructural requirements and, of course, housing itself. As we have seen today and this week in relation to the accelerating infrastructure task force and the recommendations within that in terms of trying to speed up the delivery of key infrastructural projects, I think that will work in tandem with this plan so we can have a very solid foundation for home building in future.

The €9 billion of Exchequer funding being provided in 2026 for homes in this country through the Land Development Agency and the Housing Finance Agency is very significant. As I said, the planning reforms are very important so that we have faster decisions and consistency across the country in terms of decisions. The reforms of the city and county development plans are also very important so we will have additional zoned land and sufficient headroom in this regard. As we know, not all zoned land is developed, so we need sufficient headroom there. The new, updated development plans will allow for that.

We must, of course, ensure we have compact growth in our urban areas so we maximise the services we have available. Tackling vacancy and dereliction is also a very significant part of this and there are key measures in it to provide additional incentives. Equally, if actions are not being taken, a property tax will be established through the Revenue, which is also very important. The real test of this plan will be reducing homelessness in this country, which we know is very significant. There are specific actions in this plan to try to address this issue of homelessness. Critically, for me, this is about ensuring we have a proper housing supply, that the 15,000 starter homes are delivered through this plan, which is critically important so people have the option of securing home ownership, and that the schemes are there to assist them.

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