Dáil debates

Thursday, 23 February 2017

Other Questions

Approved Housing Bodies

5:25 pm

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

10. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on whether approved housing bodies have sufficient staffing or administrative capacity to undertake a larger role in the provision of social housing; and if he will consider giving staffing grants to these bodies to increase their capacity. [9017/17]

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This question relates to approved housing bodies, AHBs. I asked the Tánaiste earlier about the progress on the regulatory framework and at what stage the Bill associated with approved housing bodies is. For the Minister to be happy, perhaps he could clarify his position on the capacity of approved housing bodies to deal with their responsibilities in contributing towards the provision of social housing. Will the Minister please elaborate on this?

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government’s Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness recognises the key contribution that AHBs have to make to the delivery of housing supports in Ireland, building on their track record in terms of both housing provision and management. There are 546 approved housing bodies, AHBs, in Ireland, ranging from small voluntary-led, community-based organisations to large-scale national organisations. Together these bodies provide in excess of 30,000 social homes. It is estimated that AHBs have the capacity to contribute around a third of the 47,000 new social housing units that are targeted over the period to 2021 using a range of delivery methods. To support this, almost €1 billion of capital funding has been secured in order that AHBs can build and acquire new social housing units. This funding will be made available over the lifetime of the action plan through my Department’s capital assistance scheme and the capital advance leasing facility. In addition, a further sum amounting to almost €1 billion in current funding under the social housing current expenditure programme has been secured for the cost of payment and availability agreements and leases over the lifetime of the action plan.

The Government is committed to supporting the AHB sector to play a central role in the effort to meet social housing needs, in conjunction with local housing authorities. I stress to all the councillors, when we meet them, that we want that relationship between them and approved housing bodies to be strengthened. Councillors feel that they want to be closer to the AHBs, and we would agree with that.

The significant funding being provided for new housing delivery will enable AHBs to increase their revenue flows, including from rent, allowing them to enhance their staffing capacity. Other commitments in Rebuilding Ireland aimed at supporting the sector include the establishment of an innovation fund to support the development by AHBs of innovative financial models, such as special purpose vehicles or mutual bodies. We will also bring forward legislation in the coming months to provide for a statutory regulator to oversee the effective governance and financial management of AHBs. This issue has been raised today and we are working very hard on it. It is hoped that will be achieved in the next couple of months.

One of the committed actions of the Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December, is the establishment an expert group to support the development of a not-for-profit rental sector in Ireland, addressing issues such as the need to grow the necessary institutional capacity, particularly within the AHB sector, whether through mergers, new entrants or strategic partnerships. I am expecting that this group will report by the end of the year.

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. Approved housing bodies are provided for within Rebuilding Ireland and, along with local authorities and the private sector, can have a substantial role in the delivery and construction of social housing units to meet the demand that has been placed upon the State. I do not believe that we have explored or catered for the potential that exists for joint ventures. I am conscious of this week's announcement of the venture between Cairn Homes and NAMA. It is a good development and should be expanded upon by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the private sector in order for State-owned lands and local authority lands to be put to use as soon as is practicable.

It has come to my attention that there are up to 500 acres in south County Dublin which is zoned for residential use and is serviced but is not in use. There is no potential for this land to be put to use in the short to medium term. As the Minister said earlier, the effort and the commitment exist but there appear to be logjams. We need to identify those logjams as quickly as humanly possible with the special delivery units in local authorities in order that we can provide for opening those logjams. If we need legislation, then let us hear about it and pass it. Let us assure the public that this can be dealt with in the short term as well and the medium to long term.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I note also the Deputy's question from earlier. Our key planning personnel and the housing delivery team in the Department are looking at all those sites. They look, site by site, at Dublin, Cork and other towns and cities to see how we can activate these sites. They are bringing the various players together and are identifying so-called pathfinder sites. We are actively asking. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, and I have told local authorities that this is what we want to see happening: public and private sites brought together in co-operation. This could be local authorities working with the private sector or with approved housing bodies to bring forward sites that can deliver the mixed tenure that Deputy Coppinger spoke of earlier. That is what we want to achieve. There is great potential and the funding is in place. We have provided other funding to activate these sites with regard to infrastructure.

The potential exists and we are doing a lot of work to co-ordinate this at departmental level. We will see results because there is great potential to deliver thousands of houses on many of the lands that have been identified. The Deputy is right to say the key is to try to activate lands that are available by bringing all the players together, including NAMA and others. I am glad the activity of AHBs - their loan approval and drawdown - has been greatly increased in 2016 compared with 2015, and we expect a similar result in 2017 also. We want to activate all the different measures and, ideally, bring in other resources that are off balance sheet, which is what we are trying to do.

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am informed by councillors that last year some local authorities undertook tender processes known as competitive expressions of interest. I sought information from many local authorities and I would hope to have it soon. I asked if they could definitively lay out to us with regard to their efforts to seek expressions of interest how many proposals were put before them, how many were accepted, how many were refused and why they were refused. This is in order for the Minister and his Department to adjudicate properly and effectively on that process. It would help us to find out where they have moved since and why they have not moved any further. It would create an opportunity to provide us with the tools to break down these obvious logjams.

I said earlier today that Rebuilding Ireland was produced with the best of intent and with a wide-ranging consultation process with all stakeholders and with the committee here with a view to addressing the issue once and for all. Unfortunately, however, in the actual implementation of it, we are falling down in getting from the expressions of interest to building on the ground. The Government has said that 8,500 social housing units are under construction, but the Minister of State and I both know that there are certain schemes within that figure that are two years in the making and they still have not broken any ground on site. That is why we need to find a way of addressing that. People may get behind us.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The key to that is in changing the process of how the Department interacts with the local authorities in bringing forward projects. We have reduced the timing a lot in that regard. Our people are available to have meetings in the offices of the local authorities as often as they want to drive projects on. In all cases they have cut those timelines. Some of the projects that were hanging around for years have now been moved on, and rightly so. We have a view of them now.

Even the publication last week of that list means everybody can track them, including every local authority and every local authority member, who we stress need to take a more active role in tracking this. They can ask the questions, push it through and, it is hoped, get these sites delivered more quickly, which is what we are trying to do. There is a large site in south Dublin which has been progressing quite well under the new initiative and the results have been positive.

I am aware of the statistics from the local authorities that have put out expressions of interest. We try to give them advice on how to advertise for that. I am disappointed with the number coming back in from the private sector as I would have thought there was a lot more potential. However, anywhere we see potential we will try to work with the local authorities, and the departmental staff are there to try to move these things along as quickly as possible. That is our commitment under the action plan for housing, namely, to make it happen a lot more quickly and to cut through those timelines. It can happen because the resources and finances are available and it is now a question of activating the sites.

Local authorities have to drive this. We have asked them to do it and we have met them individually to make it happen. While I believe it will, it is at an early stage in the process and some of them have advertised only recently. I know the Minister, Deputy Coveney, wants to add his own view.

5:35 pm

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We must move to the next question.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Could we just change the rules? It is taking nine minutes a question. If we changed the rules, we could live with it.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We must move on.

Question No. 11 replied to with Written Answers.