Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I welcome the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys. I welcome the investment made by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, in social housing. It is the largest investment in the history of the State and amounts to €3.8 billion. It is likely to produce in the region of 100,000 units of accommodation in the next five to six years. Ironically, that is the exact number that was produced in one year alone, 2006, the last great boom year of the Celtic tiger. The houses that were built then were not suitable for accommodation because of their locations and the incentives that were given. There were holiday homes, etc., all over the country. Housing was largely private and there was almost no social housing. Despite the bumper number of houses built, which was roughly the same as the number built in the same year in England, with its population of 56 million, Ireland, with its population of 4.5 million, was actually building the same number of social houses before the crash as after it. We now have waiting lists, a severe housing crisis, a problem with people sleeping rough on the streets and homelessness. The problem is particularly bad in my constituency, to the extent that a new group, Inner City Helping Homeless, has been established to deal with homeless people and rough sleepers in the area.

What the Minister is doing is extremely welcome but in the short term there is a need for accommodation. In Gardiner Street Upper in my constituency, 99 units of accommodation, built at a cost to the taxpayer of €17 million, have been lying idle since July, or almost six months. They are lying idle because of an unseemly row between Dublin City Council and the Catholic Housing Aid Society. Dublin City Council insists on the differential rent so it will be reasonable for its tenants, who will be taking up 75% of the accommodation. The Catholic Housing Aid Society insists on what it calls an economic rent.

This means that there must be a deposit of €500 to €600 presented first and then the rent will be between €500 and €700 per month, which is well in excess of social housing anywhere. We have reached a stage where there is no progress being made on either side.

Tenants who left their accommodation in 2006 at the height of the boom were told by the Catholic Housing Aid Society that they would be back within two to three years, and eight years later they are still not back. Even though some of them have been allocated the places in the housing they are moving into, there is no sign that they will move in before Christmas.

Six months down the road, new bright warm accommodation developed to the best standards is ready and lying idle. If tenants moved into that, it would create vacancies elsewhere which would be enormously beneficial to those in overcrowded homes in the present housing crisis.

I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, to ensure that the State investment of €17 million is secured and those for whom it was intended get that accommodation before Christmas. Let that be the Christmas present they get. There is no reason they should not move in.

The Archbishop of Dublin, on the other side, should be putting pressure on the Catholic Housing Aid Society to ensure that it does not continue to make those demands. The Catholic Housing Aid Society made the same demands when the funding was being made available from the Government and it had an unseemly wrangle with the Government as it was not satisfied with the funding. Now they are having this with the tenants and it is the poor tenants who are losing out in the long term.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Costello for raising this matter. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, sends his apologies as he had to go to the Seanad.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As they say in the best panto, "He is behind you."

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Minister is back.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has a interest in this as we represent the same constituency.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Costello for raising this important matter. Both myself and the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, share his concerns that this modern purpose-built facility has not yet been tenanted and I understand that officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government are working closely with Dublin City Council to resolve the matter urgently.

As Deputy Costello will be aware, this facility was funded under the Department's capital assistance scheme, which provides essential funding to approved housing bodies to give an opportunity to get a decent home to those in categories he outlined, especially those with disabilities, the homeless, emigrants returning from England and elsewhere, and victims of domestic violence. The Catholic Housing Aid Society is the approved housing body involved with the Fr. Scully project. The Deputy is correct that €17 million has been spent by the Department on this project. Officials in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government have been working closely with Dublin City Council during the construction and completion of this building, which, the Deputy will agree, is a fine facility on Gardiner Street.

In February last, in excess of €26 million was allocated to local authorities nationally by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in respect of commitments on projects under way under that Department's capital assistance scheme. A further capital investment of more than €46 million to approved housing bodies for the construction of accommodation was announced in May last to provide a total of 416 units of accommodation for those with special housing needs, including the elderly, persons with an intellectual or physical disability and homeless persons. Dublin City Council received an allocation of more than €13 million under this programme.

However, the City Council advised the Department during the summer of difficulties in its negotiations with Catholic Housing Aid Society in agreeing the rent on these units. Deputy is absolutely correct that this is unseemly. There are tenants who need to move into that accommodation urgently. The Department and the Dublin City Council chief executive met on this issue as recently as Monday last. I understand that the rent levels proposed by Catholic Housing Aid Society in respect of these units exceed the general rents for units funded under the capital assistance scheme and are more in line with market rents, despite €17 million coming from the State. It is proposed that the rent structure should more reflect the rental accommodation scheme payment or differential rent.

With the urgent need for housing, this is an intolerable position. We, as a Government, need to move urgently on it. As Deputy Costello stated, there are 99 units. There is a meeting scheduled for Friday next and both the Department and the city council will bring maximum pressure to bear to resolve the issue. As the Deputy stated, this has a domino effect. If we can get those units filled, it will create other vacancies. It involves more than these 99 units. Dublin City Council has nomination rights over 75% of those 99 units which is part of the conditions of receipt of the €17 million.

I fully support the Deputy's proposal. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, is proactive in this regard. Certainly, we will update the Deputy and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, of the outcome of Friday's meeting.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I am glad that he considers the position intolerable. It is going on for six months and is likely to be seven or eight months if it continues after the Christmas period.

He stated there is a meeting on Friday. I have tenants coming along to my advice centres who were moved out of their accommodation in 2006. Some tenants died in the meantime. They all were elderly at that time. The tenants have been given the numbers of the accommodation they are to move into - this would be the 30% that the CHAS has to allocate - but now it appears that none of them will move in before Christmas. It is a totally unsatisfactory situation. Dublin City Council cannot do anything about other 70% it has to allocate and it has persons on the waiting list who are in urgent need of accommodation. Of course, there is the domino effect. This will create space for others, especially at this point in time when we are in such urgent need of interim housing before the big housing programme comes on stream.

We need immediate action from the Minister and the voluntary housing association. It is 100% State investment. If the Minister can do it on one side, and if the Archbishop can put pressure on the other, we could have a Christmas present for 99 vulnerable people in the community. That is the way it should be. There is no reason it should not be like that.

I have just come from a meeting setting up a committee for the victims of the fire in Gloucester Place off Sean MacDermott Street yesterday and there is a great response from the community. They are so enthusiastic about helping out in any way they can. A bank account has been established for donations in the Bank of Ireland, Marino branch, in Fairview, Dublin 3. If anybody wants to donate to it, the account number is 84680567, or one can donate online as well. That is the response that is coming from the community.

Given that the Government is making a good response in terms of putting €3.8 billion into social housing, why can we not get the voluntary housing association for which the units have been built to allocate those units to its tenants who are in such dire need?

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I fully agree with what Deputy Costello has outlined. I also extend sympathy to the family whose house went on fire. It is an example of such a strong community on the northside of the city and the same sentiment is evident in the strong community in my own area.

This matter can do reputational damage to the voluntary housing sector. We certainly want to work with it in partnership to supply good quality social housing. Deputy Costello is quite correct. The State must move to protect the €17 million that has been invested by it.

It is intolerable that the units are empty at a time when people are living on the streets. It is at the top of the agenda of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, to ensure the homes are allocated and not just as a Christmas present; the allocation should take place this week. I cannot understand why an agreement cannot be reached at Friday’s meeting with the voluntary body. The housing agency in question knew the terms and conditions when it accepted the money to build the units and now it must deliver. Most voluntary housing agencies with which I have worked have been extremely honourable and have delivered on their commitments. The housing agency involved in the development under discussion must now deliver on its commitment this Friday in order that the commitments that were made to people in 2006 in Deputy Joe Costello’s constituency are honoured. The situation is intolerable, wrong and unacceptable. If there is an agreement on Friday with the voluntary housing agency in question, I will work very closely with the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, on the matter.

As Deputy Joe Costello outlined, the archbishop has a moral obligation to bring pressure to bear also. An agreement was made that the 99 units would be delivered and they were paid for. People have been given the number of the house which has been allocated to them, yet they have been left waiting. The Government has lived up to its side of the bargain and delivered the money. The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, announced today that €3.8 billion would be allocated to social housing.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is over time.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I will finish on this point. We wish to work in partnership with the voluntary housing agencies but they must deliver on their side of the agreement. I thank Deputy Joe Costello for raising the matter.