Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this topical issue. Last week it was reported that €50 million, required by Dublin City Council to deal with the homeless crisis, had not been paid or allocated to the council by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I spoke to council officials this week and there has been no progress on this. The €50 million in question is €42 million for homeless services and €8 million to refurbish council homes which are vacant. This comes against the backdrop of unprecedented numbers of people becoming homeless, huge demand for emergency accommodation and social housing and a shortage of private rental properties.

Forty new families become homeless a month, mostly due to soaring rent levels which are completely unregulated. There are 1,000 children in emergency accommodation, 150 or so people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin and over 20,000 unable to find affordable and suitable housing. In regard to housing the only place there is no shortage is the press office of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Every week it seems there is an announcement of money already announced with more details but somehow less actual information. This strategy is to confuse the public and give the media pre-written column inches without any substance in the hope it will not look deeper. It does not need too deep a look as the Government's plan is very shallow indeed. Despite false claims of billions being spent on housing, this is a six year plan for a Government with only approximately six months to live.

What is behind the headline? This Government plans to build just 167 homes in the next two and a half years in this city. This is creative accounting masking callous inactivity. The real figures show less than a third of planned funding for this and the following two years will actually go to real social housing. The rest is a transfer of funding from rent supplement to the slightly different housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. This Government is doing less and less to provide housing. We need commitments and action on real change; a commitment to increase emergency bed capacity; to maintain 50% housing allocation for the homeless in Dublin; to create a one-stop shop in local authorities for homeless and at risk tenants; to introduce a fair rent system of regulation to end the flow of tenants into homelessness; to invest in building thousands more social houses every year; and to admit that we face a national emergency due to our housing shortage and that serious, strong and even drastic measures are needed to ensure the public good is served and the right to housing protected. Even this morning I saw more homeless people in my offices, once again forced out of the rental market because we have not introduced rent controls or dealt with the soaring prices in Dublin.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue because it allows us to outline exactly what this Government is doing in its social housing strategy. A total of €64 million has been allocated in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency for the housing strategy. In all my years of living in Carlow-Kilkenny I have not heard of such an allocation being made by previous Administrations.

On 1 April last, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, announced provisional funding allocations totalling €1.5 billion for all local authorities to meet the delivery targets set out in the social housing strategy for the years until 2017. This funding will be invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by local authorities and will result in a 25% reduction nationally on housing waiting lists.

The targets are ambitious and must be backed up with resources - hence the importance of the provisional funding allocations that were also announced. The allocation of €1.5 billion is a significant commitment by the Government to support delivery of social housing by local authorities and others. The Government followed up the setting of three-year targets by approving, on 5 May last, the largest social housing construction endeavour for many years. This €312 million investment covers all 31 local authorities and will result in 1,700 housing units being built across approximately 100 separate projects. The announcement, the first of its kind under the social housing strategy, will be followed by further announcements.

Headline allocations have been made in respect of social housing targets for all local authorities until 2017. In addition, allocations to local authorities in respect of a number of specific areas of housing activity have been made or are being finalised. The Minister has made an additional €10.5 million available nationally for homeless accommodation and related services in 2015. This increase in funding of more than 20% brings the Exchequer contribution this year to €55.5 million. The 2015 regional allocations are being finalised and will be confirmed shortly.

The Department has secured increases in funding in important areas such as disability grants and supports for older people. These apply both to local authority tenants and the support local authorities provide to private home owners to make adaptations which enable older people or persons with a disability to remain in their homes. Further allocations in respect of energy efficiency upgrades for local authority housing will be made shortly, bringing benefits to householders through reduced fuel bills.

On the issue of tackling vacant social housing units, I want local authorities to continue to effectively address this challenge. The Department continues to provide Exchequer support for this work and will soon announce a new round of targets and funding. The social housing strategy makes clear, however, that this funding will be linked to local authorities having in place ongoing maintenance programmes to address the issue of vacant properties. Local authorities need to make social houses available to new tenants as quickly as possible. Given the rental income available to them, they should be able to quickly find new tenants for the majority of units that become vacant.

I am confident that all these measures, for which the Government is providing increased resources, are tackling social housing with an increased focus and vigour.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department has clearly not got the message that there is a major crisis in housing. The Government announced a package of €3.8 billion over six years, with €2.5 billion provided in the first three years and €1.3 billion available for the three subsequent years. However, the Government is unlikely to be in office for much more than another six months.

Instead of building social housing, local authorities are entering leasing and rental arrangements and relying on schemes such as the housing assistance payment.

The Government woke up a little after the death of Jonathan Corrie. I attended one emergency meeting after another on homelessness after Mr. Corrie's death and 268 places were subsequently provided for single homeless persons. However, the problem has worsened since the death of Jonathan Corrie, with 40 families being made homeless every month. In response to the crisis, the Government has allocated money for long-term projects that will take a number of years to deliver. Emergency measures are required immediately to tackle the scandal of 1,000 children sleeping in homeless accommodation every night. Some of these children must travel across Dublin to a hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation each night and travel back across town every morning to attend school. This is costly and is placing serious pressure on families.

Time out of number, I have asked the Minister questions on financial contributions, yet he has still not provided me with figures. He should apply pressure to local authorities to introduce financial contributions. Dublin City Council and other local authorities are starting to buy properties, both new and old. We have a problem which needs to be addressed urgently.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government very much does get the message. An allocation of €1.5 billion is not an insignificant sum. Is Deputy Ellis arguing that councils should not buy properties to house people?

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That was not my point.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In that case, I misconstrued his comment.

Local authorities will not be left short where they present clear, realistic and deliverable social housing proposals that are in line with the social housing strategy. A further demonstration of the Government's commitment to the strategy is its decision to sanction the hiring of additional local authority staff to support the delivery of social housing. Where a social housing is unable to deliver social housing because it is short of staff, the Minister has agreed to provide staff to ensure there are no blockages in the system.

The recent announcement of new social housing building projects will address housing need and provide approximately 3,000 jobs in the construction sector. Not only will these projects provide support for people on housing waiting lists but they will also support jobs in the economy. There are signs that the economic recovery is taking hold. On the back of economic growth and with the implementation of the actions set out in the social housing strategy, the Government is optimistic that we will deliver on the targets we have set for social housing and this will have a significant impact on housing waiting lists.

People who are dependent on the local authority for housing also visit my constituency office. Local authorities can lease or buy properties. By pursuing this "build, buy and lease" approach, the Minister is ensuring that we do not have to wait for social housing units to be built.