Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, dealing with this matter?

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Coveney.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I am disappointed that the Minister with responsibility for housing, Deputy Simon Coveney, is not here to respond to the questions. I wanted to ask him if he was aware that there are 54 acres of council-owned land banks for social housing in County Louth that have lain idle for the past ten years, barren of any social housing provision. Furthermore, the council is paying €3 million per year in interest only on those land banks. That €3 million is taken out of the council's budget every year, which directly affects service provision such as housing maintenance, extensions for people with disabilities, etc.

I do not know if the Minister of State is aware that there are 4,851 people on the housing list in County Louth. There are also 1,000 people with no other option but to go onto the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. For the first time ever in County Louth, there is a 100% increase in homelessness. Two years ago, one person was registered as homeless. As of last week, 100 people are homeless. That is 100 people without a roof over their head who are lying in doorways or without any shelter or park they can find coming into the winter and Christmas. When that total is combined, we are talking about almost 6,000 people. It is fair to say that the Government allowed this crisis to develop. For the six years it has been in government, it has done little or nothing about it and the crisis has now developed into an emergency.

I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister some weeks ago asking the amount of council land banks for social housing in each county across the State. The response was telling because it stated: "My Department does not hold the data requested by the Deputy." The same Minister for housing launched a policy document, Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, in July. One would imagine the first thing any Minister would do in the midst of a housing emergency would be to do a search of all local authorities to find out the number of council-owned land banks that were sitting idle, waiting for funding to build social housing. It is clear from that reply that the Government has no intention of rolling out a proper social housing building programme and that it is developer led.

I am extremely disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is not here, but I ask the Minister of State what commitment will be given to local authorities across the State, but in particular to Louth where 6,000 people are on the housing list, to fund local authorities to provide social housing on those council owned land banks that are deemed for social housing but which are lying idle in the midst of a housing emergency.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Before I call the Minister of State, it is open to a person submitting a topical issue to indicate that they want the issue held until it can be dealt with by the particular Minister.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I presumed, in the midst of a crisis, that the Minister would have made himself available but, obviously, it is not a priority.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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He is in the Seanad.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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If the Minister is not available, the Deputy has the option to defer the matter.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for the absence of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, who is dealing with legislation in the Seanad. I have been asked to relay his reply to the Deputy. I have taken a note of the points the Deputy has made.

The Department does not hold the data requested by the Deputy. It is a matter for each local authority to be satisfied that it has sufficient lands zoned to meet its overall housing needs, both in regard to wider residential development and in terms of lands on which social housing can be provided. Also, to clarify, the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, does not provide for specific zoning for social housing; the Act requires development plans to provide zoning of land for purposes, including for residential use.

Elsewhere, in Part V of the Act, provisions relating to social and affordable housing apply to that land that is zoned for residential use or a mixture of residential and other uses. For example, the written statement of a development plan must include an objective requiring that a specified percentage of the land zoned for residential use, or for a mixture of residential and other uses, be made available for the provision of social housing.

In addition, there have also been changes to the existing Part V social and affordable housing arrangements in the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, which are primarily aimed at maximising the transfer of completed social housing units. These changes include prioritising the delivery of social housing units on-site, with 10% social housing being required in new housing developments; a requirement that Part V agreements should be reached between developers and local authorities prior to the lodgement of a commencement notice for the development; the elimination of the current options allowing developers to fulfil their Part V obligations by means of the transfer of sites or land elsewhere, or of making a cash payment in lieu of social housing, thereby signalling that the focus is now firmly on the provision of units; the possibility for the new Part V provisions to be retrospectively applied to existing planning permissions where works have not yet commenced subject to the agreement of the developer and the planning authority; the introduction of the possibility for developers to agree with a planning authority to lease out units for social housing either on or off-site; and the increase in the size of developments exempted from the Part V provisions from developments of four units or fewer to developments of nine units or fewer.

Part V will now only apply to developments of ten units or more.

Specifically in respect of County Louth, I am assuming that Deputy Munster is referring to a site located at Dunleer, which is a project that will be delivered through a public private partnership, PPP, programme. This is expected to yield between 70 and 95 social housing units. My Department will be recouping part of an outstanding Louth County Council site loan, in proportion to the percentage of the overall site that is being used for the project.

As for the timeline for delivery, PPP projects in general take an estimated 37 to 48 months to deliver. It is anticipated that the first units will be ready to move into in mid-2019. My Department is working in partnership with local authorities and the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA. The latter is responsible for the procurement of the projects and supervision of the project companies during construction. At present, the planning and site design aspects of each site has been addressed and it is anticipated that the planning processes will commence in mid-February.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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On a point of clarification, I was not referring to the lands at Dunleer. As I said at the outset, I was referring to the 54 acres of landbanks that are lying idle throughout County Louth.

If one looks at the Minister of State's response, it is all about Part V. There is clearly no evidence to suggest that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is enthusiastic about traditional projects whereby local authorities build the council houses. What is being done is developer led. The Minister is handing over responsibility for our housing crisis to private developers. That is as clear as day, not only from the Rebuilding Ireland document but also from the reply provided. The Minister is handing over our entire housing emergency to private developers.

I will ask the question again because the Minister of State did not answer it. In view of the fact that there are 6,000 people on the housing waiting list in Drogheda and throughout Louth, many of whom have been waiting over eight years - perhaps, the Minister thinks is not long enough - and given the 54 acres of landbanks in the county that can be used for social housing provision, will the Minister give a commitment to provide funding so that the local authority can start building social houses on that land, in respect of which the local authority is making interest-only repayments of €3 million a year? I hope that, third time lucky, the Minister of State will answer my question. Will the Minister will agree to provide funding to allow not only the local authority in Louth but also every other local authority in the same position to begin building on their landbanks in order that they might start providing houses for the people on the housing lists? Will the Minister do that or is he hell-bent on handing over responsibility for our housing crisis to private developers?

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Unfortunately, I cannot answer on behalf of the Minister in respect of Deputy Munster's question on funding. However, I can inform her that the Rebuilding Ireland programme clearly identifies that the local authorities will play a significant role in developing social housing right across the country. The local authorities have been identified and asked to make sites known - where these have become available - to the Minister and to the Department so that the process to make land available for the building of social housing, affordable housing and private housing can begin.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What about the landbanks?

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am coming to that. I cannot answer the specific question on the landbanks for Deputy Munster because I do not have that information. However, I will-----

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That was basis of the question I put down. The one word that stands out in the question is "landbanks" and now the Minister of State is saying she does not have an answer.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I do not have a specific answer in respect of that matter.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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In fairness to the Minister of State, we have two difficulties here. We have the Minister of State standing in for her colleague and she is not obviously equipped with the information that Deputy Munster is seeking. Equally, the question, while it is valid and important, is not as specific as it might be. There is that difficulty.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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There is. I agree with the Deputy that there is probably more clarification needed on the question.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Fifty-four acres of landbanks.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry I cannot give the answer to Deputy Munster. What I can tell her is that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has committed €3.5 billion for housing across the country and all of the local authorities have been contacted in respect of the different lands and sites that can be used for the building of social and affordable housing.

I promise Deputy Munster I will go directly back to the Minister and ask specifically about the landbanks. I cannot address that issue. I cannot give the Deputy a commitment that the Minister will provide funding to the local authority for specific sites unless he sees the sites in respect of which it will be allocated. I cannot provide an answer in that regard for the Deputy but I will go back to the Minister on her behalf to relay that the answer given by me on his behalf is not sufficient. I will ask him to communicate with the Deputy on a personal basis.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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That is a clear undertaking that the Minister will be asked to correspond directly with Deputy Munster.