Dáil debates

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Housing Provision

9:40 am

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the unprecedented crisis in the Irish housing system, and the need for a significant shift in policy in order to deal with it; if he will consider establishing a new State body to deliver a social, affordable and rental house building and refurbishment programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38543/15]

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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We all accept that the primary objective of housing is to provide homes appropriate to need at an affordable price or rent. The policy of relying on private landlords to provide accommodation to vulnerable groups at a high cost to the Exchequer has been unwise and the Government should change direction. The Government is sourcing more than three quarters of social housing through the private sector. Does the Minister not think more housing should be built through local authorities directly by the Government?

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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A shortage of supply is at the heart of the current challenges in the housing sector and the Government is addressing this on a number of fronts. The Government’s Construction 2020 strategy, published last year, is aimed at addressing issues in the property and construction sectors and ensuring any bottlenecks that might impede the sector in meeting residential and non-residential demand are addressed. My Department and a range of other Departments and agencies are actively implementing the range of commitments set out in the strategy. In addition, NAMA is aiming to deliver a target of 20,000 residential units before the end of 2020, with 90% of these units to be in the greater Dublin area.

The Social Housing Strategy 2020setsout clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all households on the social housing list. Social housing has been prioritised by this Government and over €1.7 billion in Exchequer and local authority self funding was allocated to the social housing strategy between the 2015 and 2016 budgets, to support the provision of more than 33,000 units. The Government’s capital plan goes beyond 2016 and commits €2.9 billion in capital funding towards social housing out to 2021.

In April 2015, we announced provisional funding allocations totalling €1.5 billion for all local authorities to meet an ambitious delivery target of 22,882 social housing units out to 2017. To date, €493 million has been allocated for the construction and acquisition of 2,900 units. Further project approvals will be announced in the near future. Establishing yet another body to deal with housing is neither necessary nor appropriate, particularly given the time and resources that would need to be diverted to such an endeavour.

Therefore, I do not believe the establishment of yet another body to deal with housing is either necessary or appropriate, particularly given the time involved and the resources that would need to be diverted into such an endeavour. We require delivery on the ground. The funding has been allocated and the targets have been set. The bars have been set high. We need to see local authorities and approved housing bodies delivering with the funds that have been allocated. We also need to see the private sector contributing in a real way to the increase in supply that is so badly needed, as we all know.

9:50 am

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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It is not just about supply. The suggestion that it is all about supply is a false notion. There was no shortage of supply seven or eight years ago, but there were huge affordability problems and rents were very high. The Minister of State has told us that NAMA will build 20,000 units. I remind him that they will be built on lands paid for by the taxpayer through the NAMA process. Why, in God's name, are we not putting more social houses on these lands? Some 90% of this activity involves the provision of private housing. It has been estimated that each of these houses will be sold for approximately €300,000. Will the Minister of State explain how this will benefit the various groups of people who need a house in Ireland today? No one on the social housing list can afford to buy a house at such a price. Many people in other categories cannot afford to pay €300,000 for a house. I have no problem with the 80% and 20% rules that have been laid down by the Central Bank, but I am not satisfied that the Government intends to supply enough social housing to meet the needs of those who cannot afford to buy in the private sector.

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has asked a critical question. He is right to ask why we do not have more social housing. We do not have to go back too far to find the obvious answer, which is that local authorities have not been building social housing to the necessary extent for the past ten to 15 years. There was an over-dependence on Part V private development. When such development stopped, the dividend in the form of the delivery of social housing from that avenue also stopped. We are now addressing the problem in that regard. If the cash in lieu measure introduced by the previous Government which essentially allowed developers to pay cash rather than delivering on their social housing obligations had not been introduced some years ago we would have over 10,000 additional units that we do not have today. I am glad to say the Government has removed the cash in lieu obligation. The Deputy's main question was related to the establishment of another housing body to deliver housing. I am saying clearly to him that the local authorities are the housing authorities. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is prioritising housing. The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, and I have allocated ring-fenced funding in our budgets. We are also working with the approved housing bodies. We are working with the private sector through public private partnerships and other avenues to deliver as many houses as possible. The simple establishment of another agency would not solve the problem. The angle being taken by the Government involves a multifaceted approach.

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Well said.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I do not disagree for one minute with the suggestion that the last Government made a hames of Part V. However, Part V was not a substitute for the construction of housing by local authorities. Under Part V fewer than 5,000 social housing units were delivered in 15 years. It was a non-entity. The Government is relying on the approved housing agencies and the rent supplement scheme.

On the philosophy of local authorities, I remind the Minister of State who has said the local authorities stopped building houses that this happened because central government stopped giving them the money to build them. Central government needs to fund local authorities in order that they can start building again. There are 3,600 people on the social housing waiting list in County Wexford. Fewer than 100 of the 760 houses to will be supplied in the next five years will be built by the council. Local authorities will still not build social housing. I insist that the housing crisis will continue until the Government changes its philosophy and decides to build social housing through the local authorities from scratch. It will not be done overnight, but it has to be started.

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to report to the Deputy that over 200 construction sites have been approved in various local authority areas throughout the country and more will be approved. In the next few weeks submissions will be made by the approved housing bodies with the support of local authorities. They will receive further approval for construction. As the Deputy knows from his background in this area, when construction projects are approved, they have to go through the Part 8 planning system. That process is already under way. They then have to be tendered for by contractors. Local authorities are reporting that many contractors have been engaged. The works can then commence on site. We are starting to see them commencing. I have opened a few around the country, as has the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, and we expect to open more in the coming months. The Deputy is right when he suggests we cannot be over-dependent on a single sector. However, that is the problem we have inherited and are dealing with. By making legislative changes and providing additional budgets, we are trying to bring a multifaceted approach to the solution to this problem. I was at a meeting yesterday that was attended by Ministers from Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. They are experiencing the same problems that we are experiencing. They are looking at our strategy of developing innovative ways to deliver new housing as quickly as possible, for example, by using public private partnerships and working with approved housing bodies. The Deputy is right when he says this will not happen overnight. We are doing everything in our power to deliver housing as soon as possible.