Dáil debates

Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Housing Data

11:40 am

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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29. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on the CSO house build completion data for 2018; and the steps he is taking to ensure house building targets for 2019 are reached in view of the fact the 2018 figures show that they were 40% below target for 2018. [8454/19]

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The CSO released the house completion figures the week before last. They are a good set of figures, which I welcome, and I also welcome any increase in private and public sector house building. My concern is that the figure of 18,000 units reported is substantially behind the targets set out in Rebuilding Ireland. What is going to happen to ensure that this year, next year and in 2021 the catch-up in both public and private sector delivery is achieved to meet that crucial target in Rebuilding Ireland?

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Housing is, and will remain, a top priority for the Government. The latest statistics from the Central Statistics Office, released earlier this month, show that very significant progress is being made. Specifically, the CSO reports there were 18,072 new dwelling completions in Ireland last year, up 25% on 2017. When account is taken of the 794 homes completed in unfinished housing developments and the 2,592 homes that were vacant for at least two years and have been returned to use, the overall number of new homes becoming available for use in 2018 was 21,458, without counting the new student bed spaces that were also brought in during that time.

More new homes were built in 2018 than in any other year this decade. Much of this can be attributed to the Government's overall management of the economy, as well as to specific actions under Rebuilding Ireland, including streamlined and updated planning arrangements and investments in infrastructure. While the Deputy's question suggests that overall housing delivery last year was 40% below the target for the year, this is not the case. The target in Rebuilding Ireland is for housing supply to increase to 25,000 in 2020, and I am confident, on the basis of progress made to date and the range of indicators of housing construction activity, that this target will be achieved. There is, however, no room for complacency and I will be continuing to maintain very focused attention on increasing overall housing supply in co-operation with local authorities, the construction sector and other stakeholders.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I want to correct one thing the Minister said. The target in Rebuilding Ireland is not to reach 25,000 units by 2020 and 2021. The target in the plan is to "ensure that an average of 25,000 homes are produced every year in the period to 2021". That is what Rebuilding Ireland says. Nobody expected 25,000 units in 2016, 2017 or 2018 so what the target suggests is that, as it ramps up, about midway through the plan, the 25,000 is passed and is then exceeded in the years thereafter.

On the basis of that target - it is a direct quote - the Government is 43% behind halfway through the plan. Somebody changed the wording of my question and it does not reflect the original wording. In order to meet that key Rebuilding Ireland target, the Government must increase output annually to somewhere close to 35,000 units. Either the Minister has changed the Rebuilding Ireland target and not told anybody, or else he must explain to the House how, if the Government is to reach that crucial target, it will get to 35,000 units per year between now and 2021, which is what would be required to meet the target set in the plan.

11:50 am

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Somebody also originally changed my gender in the question; therefore, we apologise if something was lost in translation.

The Deputy might be misreading the Rebuilding Ireland plan with the selective quote mentioned. What we have always spoken about in Rebuilding Ireland is ramping up to a point where we will be producing at least 25,000 units per year and continuing that delivery for a number of years. Beyond the end of Rebuilding Ireland is Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and development plan which has the goal of increasing the number to 35,000 homes per year and driving delivery out to 2027. The capital plan for housing agreed as part of Project Ireland 2040 is the next phase of Rebuilding Ireland, but it is clearly at a high level to get us to an output of 35,000 units per year to 2027. Within it, we will maintain our commitment to one in four and one in five homes built every year being social housing homes, reflecting the great progress being made under Rebuilding Ireland to increase the stock of social housing and ensuring Rebuilding Ireland will complete by the end of 2021 the ambition of delivering social housing in tandem with housing more generally in the economy. That will continue with the national planning framework and Project Ireland 2040. The increase in the number of new places to live was significant in 2018. The number of builds of over 18,000 was the highest compared to any other year this decade and it will be higher again this year. Construction is moving very quickly in the right direction. We must continue to drive that delivery to get to 35,000 homes per year, which is what we anticipate will happen under Project Ireland 2040 at the conclusion of Rebuilding Ireland.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Rebuilding Ireland is crystal clear and the direct quote comes from both the plan and the Rebuilding Ireland website. It states, "to ensure that an average of 25,000 homes are produced every year in the period to 2021". I am not disputing that the figure of 18,000 is an improvement on 14,000 in the year before and 9,000 in the year before that. I welcome every new home that is available, public or private. However, at the centre of the Minister's plan there is a key commitment and it seems that he does not understand it; rather than what the document promises - an average of 25,000 homes in each year of the plan - he is now saying we will only reach 25,000 at the end. As clearly there is confusion on the Minister's side, I ask him again how he will reach that key target, given that he is now 43% behind and that meeting it will require 35,000 units to be built each year?

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. He is misrepresenting the targets set in Rebuilding Ireland. The confusion is not on my side.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I am quoting the plan.

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is quoting out of context. I cannot see what else is around the sentence. Nobody suggested we would build 25,000 homes in 2016 or 2017.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Absolutely.

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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It was always about ramping up to 25,000 units per year and maintaining that number.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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That is not what the plan states.

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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A new ambition was to bring it to 35,000 homes per year under Project Ireland 2040. I thank the Deputy for welcoming the increase in housing numbers happening under Rebuilding Ireland and recognising, because of the policies in Rebuilding Ireland, the increase in housing numbers that is happening.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The plan is 43% behind target. Is the Minister accepting that the Government will not meet its own target?

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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No. The Deputy is using statistics to misrepresent the position. That is not what is happening. We have seen a dramatic increase in home building under Rebuilding Ireland.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Minister accepting that the Government will not reach its target?

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I am just glad that the Deputy is accepting that Rebuilding Ireland is working. It is the plan and driving house delivery.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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As it is 43% behind target, it is not working.

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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We still have to hear what Sinn Féin's plan would be to replace Rebuilding Ireland as it takes every opportunity to state we should throw it out. That is despite the fact that it is working to increase dramatically the supply of homes.

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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It is 43% behind target.

Question No. 30 answered with Question No. 27.