Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Housing in the Ringsend, Pearse Street and Kevin Street areas is a significant issue. There is not enough of it. There is not enough social or affordable housing nationally, but in Ringsend, Pearse Street and York Street in particular, and in Dublin 2, 4 and 8 more generally, the lack of housing is particularly acute. Flat complexes in Ringsend such as Whelan House, O'Rahilly House, George Reynolds House and Canon Mooney Gardens are no longer fit for purpose. They need comprehensive regeneration and investment, not a facelift. The time for carrying out minor works has long passed. We need energy-efficient modern homes that can house working families. We do not need small flats that are riddled with dampness or overcrowded and unhealthy for young families.

The recent budget trumpeted its commitment to affordable homes, yet residents of Ringsend village still have no clarity as to whether there will be affordable homes on the glass bottle site. The Government needs to give certainty to the Irish Glass Bottle site housing action group and the residents of Ringsend who have fought every step of the way to ensure that the glass bottle site is developed in the interests of those currently unable to get on the property ladder. Patsy, Susan, Richie, Kevin, Tom, Joe and Christine, to name but a few of the glass bottle site housing action group, have kept the fight for affordable homes at the top of the agenda.

In 2017, Dublin City Council and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government agreed to fund 650 affordable homes on the glass bottle site in addition to the public housing promised, yet there is still no clarity as to whether they will be delivered and no certainty that they will be affordable. It has been suggested that the so-called affordable housing cost will be between €350,000 to €400,000 per home. How can anyone claim that is truly affordable? Ordinary working families in Ringsend will not be able to afford €350,000 or €400,000. The homes need to be genuinely affordable and no costlier than €230,000 in order for anyone to get even close to being able to afford them. We need to know what the Government deems to be affordable and to have direct intervention from the Minister and the Department. Only €110 million was allocated for affordable housing in the recent budget.

The National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, still has not reached a commercial agreement with Dublin City Council. The Minister needs to intervene to ensure that affordable homes will be delivered on the glass bottle site. Significant public funding is being invested to ensure that the glass bottle site will be developed. Construction of public bridges, and of infrastructure to allow the homes to be built on the glass bottle site, is being funded by the public purse. We cannot allow developers to benefit from this investment without ensuring that affordable and public housing is built on the site.

I assure the Minister of State that the residents of Ringsend will not roll over. They will resist any attempts to cut the provision of affordable housing on the glass bottle site, even if that takes direct action. I will stand shoulder to shoulder with them in Ringsend and Pearse Street. All the residents will resist any attempt to cut social and public housing on the glass bottle site.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Government is focused on ensuring that affordable and high quality housing solutions are available to everyone in society. This is clearly reflected in the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, which confirms our view that home ownership should be a realistic aspiration for people. Everyone should have access to good-quality housing to purchase or rent at an affordable price in connected and sustainable communities.

I reiterate that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien's, priority is to bring forward measures starting next year and continuing over the lifetime of the Government to enable more people to buy and own their own homes, something that previous generations were able to do through increased supply and policy interventions that made home ownership more accessible and affordable.

These commitments were reflected in budget 2021, which provides for an overall investment of €3.3 billion for the delivery of housing programmes. This represents an increase of €641 million, or 24%, on 2020 and the single biggest spend on housing by any Government in the history of this State. In addition, it will be the largest build programme in the history of the State.

The budget also provides for a suite of affordability measures totalling €468 million. This will be spread out across the serviced sites fund, the local infrastructure housing activation fund, the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme and the Land Development Agency. Importantly, €110 million of this amount will be provided to deliver a new national affordable purchase shared equity scheme for first-time buyers and a new funding model to accelerate the delivery of cost-rental homes through the approved housing body sector.

Within four short months, this Government has risen to the challenge and shown our commitment to affordable housing and cost rental by allocating funding towards these two schemes and towards delivering homes from next year.

In terms of the old Irish Glass Bottle site, the regeneration of Poolbeg West is the next important step in transforming the docklands area, given its strategic location east of Grand Canal Dock with close proximity to important bridge connections to Dublin Port and North Lotts. The extent of vacant brownfield land available at Poolbeg West is significant, at 34 ha. The residential potential within the available lands is for a maximum of 3,500 additional residential units at a gross residential density of up to 238 units per hectare on lands over 14.7 ha to the south of South Bank Road. This estimated housing yield would be sufficient to support a residential population of approximately 8,000 people and, therefore, would make a significant contribution to the city's housing needs.

It should be noted that the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, as the responsible agency, retains responsibility regarding a decision to proceed with the competitive process to develop this site. NAMA has confirmed the competitive process adopted was designed to achieve best financial return in line with the requirements of the NAMA Act and facilitate delivery of much needed housing in Dublin.

On the wider activation of these lands, I understand that, having decided to embark on the competitive tendering process in July last, NAMA named a preferred bidder to acquire 80% shareholding. NAMA will retain a 20% shareholding. A condition of the planning of the scheme, as modified by An Bord Pleanála on 9 April 2019, provides for 15% social and affordable homes on this site, in addition to the 10% statutory under Part V arrangements, which still stand and are applicable. As such, it is envisaged that at least 350 of the planned 3,500 homes on the site will be designated for social housing and at least 525 will be for affordable housing.

For our part, subject to the overall progress of the project, my Department remains ready to work with Dublin City Council, any relevant approved housing bodies and the receiver and-or developers of the strategic development zone, SDZ, area to progress this site, subject to agreement on all normal and relevant terms, including the value for money aspects.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. What has been happening recently, and accelerating over the past number of years, is that the likes of Facebook, Google and their senior management teams have been buying homes in the Ringsend area. Prices are huge there now. There is a small one-bedroom cottage in Ringsend for which people are being asked to pay more than €400,000. This is not affordable. The long-term community in Ringsend is being forced to move out and it is having a negative impact on the community at large. The Capital Dock building, which the Minister of State has probably seen in Ringsend, did not provide any social housing in the area because developers bought their way out of providing Part V social housing by providing the housing in Rialto. That is great for Rialto and in the general context of the housing list and housing crisis but the difficulty is there are no new social and affordable homes being provided in Ringsend. Prices are so high that the council stated that it cannot afford to pay the prices developers are requesting.

Ringsend gets left behind and gentrification continues. Working families are being left behind so affordable homes not only on the old Irish Glass Bottle site but elsewhere are really important. We need public housing on public land and affordable housing to ensure people get homes and do not have to move too far from their community. Government needs to intervene on the old Irish Glass Bottle site and I am not seeing that yet.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I assure the Deputy that we are looking at a total of 875 units between social and affordable housing. We have reiterated our commitment to progress this site and we are ready to work with all key stakeholders towards social and affordable housing delivery objectives so I share the Deputy's aspirations in that regard.

As a Government, we will, in parallel with these impact measures, drive structural reform and supply side measures in the way we deliver housing. Over the medium term, this will result in a far greater level of social and affordable housing directly provided by our local authorities on their land. A significant budget of 2021 funding that has been secured will allow these schemes to be delivered over the coming year. However, it is intended to see the results of the measures we are confirming today being delivered beyond 2021, with tens of thousands of homes being delivered over the coming years. Taking on the Deputy's earlier point, these will be in sustainable communities, energy efficient and in line with repurposing our town centres, regenerating communities and giving affordable options to people living in those communities who want to stay in them.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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The public purse is ensuring that this development will go ahead and it is important that developers are not allowed to turn their backs on the people of Ringsend.