Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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63. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the plans that have been put in place to address the shortage of social housing in County Laois; and if he will to set out a time frame to address the issue. [25601/14]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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This question relates to the need for a social housing building programme in County Laois. There are 1,450 people on the county’s housing waiting list with up to 1,063 alone having put Portlaoise as their first place of choice for a house. On the Laois side of Portarlington, there are 381 people in need of housing which does not include the Offaly side of the town. Will this be addressed as a matter of urgency?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In February 2014, Laois County Council was allocated €242,186 to complete works on several projects under the social housing construction-acquisition programme. In March, I approved funding of €750,000 in respect of the delivery of six housing units in Laois under the 2014-2015 local authority housing construction programme. In May, I approved funding of €397,620 for Laois in respect of the delivery of four units of accommodation for persons with intellectual and physical disabilities under the 2014-2015 capital assistance scheme, CAS, for the construction and acquisition of housing for people with specific categories of housing need.

Earlier this year, I also announced details of a measure with funding of €15 million to bring 952 vacant and boarded-up local authority houses, known as voids, back into productive use. Laois was allocated funding of €73,900 in respect of 13 voids. My Department has, to date, issued approval for 199 units in Laois to be brought into social housing use under the social housing leasing initiative.

The rental accommodation scheme, RAS, was established with the dual purpose of eliminating long-term dependence on the supplementary welfare allowance rent supplementation scheme and enhancing the capacity of local authorities to respond to long-term housing need. As of the end of March 2014, Laois has transferred 554 households from rent supplement, 356 being housed directly under RAS and 198 accommodated mainly in standard social housing.

Laois has also been allocated €367,259 under the special resolution fund for unfinished housing developments for 2014 in respect of five developments. The completion of these works will help to bring 25 units onstream, some of which will be for social housing use.

Future social housing delivery will be guided by a new social housing strategy, preparation of which has commenced and which will be finalised at the end of the third quarter of 2014.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. Some of the information she provided is useful but she has sidestepped my main point. What County Laois needs is a substantial social housing programme. Significant land parcels are in the council’s ownership, such as five acres in Portlaoise and two acres in Portarlington. A further 23 acres in Mountrath, Rathdowney, Durrow and Ballinakill are in the ownership of the Housing and Sustainable Communities Limited, the NAMA for local authorities set up several years ago. These could be transferred back to Laois County Council, giving a total of 30 acres of land available for housing. A small fortune is paid out in rent supplement in the county while there is a need for social housing with 1,450 on the waiting list. Will the Minister approve a social housing building programme for the county as it would be a win-win situation in dealing with the housing list and providing employment for the large number of unemployed building workers in the county?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As I have said many times before, if we had the capital, we would all like a much larger social housing programme. While we have some commenced mainstream social housing construction, we are exploring whether we can introduce more substantial building programmes that would be off the Government’s balance sheet because we are still constrained by certain fiscal requirements which we, unfortunately, cannot get around. In the meantime, wherever else I can get funding, be it through stimulus or other programmes, we will construct as many houses as we possibly can. Many of the 1,450 on the waiting list in County Laois are on rent supplement and will be transferring to the housing assistance payment in the near future when the required legislation is through and the payment is rolled out across the country. Many of those on the housing list are getting support from the State but, obviously, we want to provide as many social housing units as we can. We have fiscal constraints but we are using every possible measure to find funding for social housing. We will continue to explore those avenues.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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The housing assistance payment is a name-change for rent supplement which will now be paid out by the local authorities instead of the Department of Social Protection. That rent subsidy is costing a fortune.

I am not arguing that people should not get it. People should do so in the short term, but it was not designed to be a long-term measure. If we had a housing programme then building workers could go back to work, the State would receive PAYE, income tax, universal social charge and PRSI and money spent on rent supplement would be saved. The State would receive in VAT 13.5% of the price of all materials used in the construction of houses. Houses can be built cheaply at present. Local authorities would obtain assets from which they can earn rent for years and then sell on.

I understand the position with regard to off-balance sheet issues and that money cannot be pulled out of the air, but there are facilities through the European Investment Bank and the strategic investment fund, which was the National Pension Reserve Fund. There is also the option of establishing trusts to draw down money and establish funding through housing bonds. This has been done in other countries, including capitalist Britain, so there should not be an ideological problem for the man from Fine Gael sitting beside the Minister of State. He cannot have a problem with it if the British Tories allow it to happen in England. As the Minister of State and a representative of the Labour Party I ask the Minister of State to move on this issue because there is a crucial problem. If one walks around the streets of Dublin in the evening or early morning one falls over people sleeping in doorways. The same problem does not exist in parts of the country outside the city, but County Laois and other midland counties have a huge problem with housing waiting lists. Will the Minister of State consider this as a matter of urgency and address it? She stated she is exploring it but she needs to do more than that. People are homeless and we need to find solutions.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I ask Deputies to keep within the time limits.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Those areas are all being explored under the Government's construction 2020 strategy and the social housing strategy we will publish later this year. We are exploring all of these and will use whatever we can. There is no ideological problem, if I can answer for my colleague-----

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad to hear it.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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-----for either Government party.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Not like the communists in Europe with whom Sinn Féin is joined.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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There is an advantage in the housing assistance payment, HAP, for tenants in so far as they will pay rent the same as local council tenants. At present they have much more insecurity with regard to rent support. There is definitely an advantage for people on rent supplement at present who go on to HAP. They will be allowed to go back to work and retain housing support although the rent will be based on income. This is an improvement and removes the poverty trap of people being afraid to go to work because they are in receipt of rent supplement.