Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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77. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the level of flexibility that local authorities have when considering a tenant in situ purchase; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23444/23]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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When the eviction ban was lifted, the Government promised that a range of measures would be put in place to prevent people from becoming homeless. It is important to acknowledge that good work has been done by local authorities with the tenant in situscheme. However, many renters are still falling through the cracks and are still being evicted. Dublin City Council have said that they are already close to meeting this year's tenant in situtarget of 450 tenancies. What is being done to expand the tenant in situscheme and to ensure it is operated with greater flexibility to protect people from becoming homeless?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Specifically with regard to the tenant in situscheme, it has been a real success so far. To update the House, approximately 1,800 properties are going through the sales process right now. The targets that were set across local authorities were baseline targets and I have said that to everyone on numerous occasions.

Additional funding will be required. If we can do more than 2,000 this year, which I believe we can, they will be funded. With regard to transboundary issues in particular, such as where a housing assistance payment, HAP, tenant might have been on one local authority list but is living in another, those issues have been resolved. We are therefore seeing a significant amount of work being done by all our local authorities in this space. The returns on that are very significant. We get them on a monthly basis but they are updated on the system weekly. Then we verify them at the end of the month.

I just spoke about the purchase for tenantin situscheme and I will inform the Deputy about the other measures. Regarding the cost rental in situscheme, we have had our first approvals in that space. The Housing Agency are managing those. It relates to when someone is above the social housing limits, who is not a HAP tenant, who cannot afford to buy their property and who is at risk of homelessness. That scheme has been in place since 1 April. We have had a number of enquiries and we have had our first approvals there, which is good. Also with regard to the first home scheme, which helps tenants if they are in a position to buy the property when the landlord is selling, we have had our first approvals in that space too.

I wish to assure Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and all Deputies in the House that there is no ceiling on the purchase for a tenant in situ. We need to have discretion amongst the local authorities to allow them to do their work. However, the returns so far are extremely positive. This now means that for many HAP tenancies that may have been insecure, people now have safe and secure social homes for life. This is the most significant intervention in relation to tenant in situ purchases that has ever been brought forward, and it is working. There were some issues at the start and we will keep that under review. The County and City Management Association, CCMA, will be meeting about this today. I have appointed the former chief executive of Kildare County Council, Peter Carey, who is managing in this space across the local authorities.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I am going to read a short extract from an email that a mother of two children who is facing eviction into homelessness has sent to me. She has given me her full permission to use this. She says:

5 years ago, I fled domestic violence. In the 6-month period that we were homeless the effect on my son's mental health was devastating. At 7 years old he was suicidal and permanently suspended from school.In the past 5 years we have fought hard to save this boy's life. I have no doubt being homeless again will take all that stability, routine and safety away from him and all of our hard work and fight will be gone. He has been diagnosed with autism. He needs space to regulate his emotions. He needs to have a safe space to call home. I am begging you not to make this child homeless.

Dublin City Council has declined to approve this mother and her children and for a tenant in situ scheme. Will the Minister ask them to be more flexible and take another look at this?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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First, I have every sympathy and empathy for that lady and for the difficulties that people find themselves in. There are two issues here. We need to get the supply of social housing up. Our new-build programme is happening and we will build more this year than we did last year.

Specifically in relation to the case the Deputy has referenced, we have given flexibility to the local authorities. I do not know the details of that case, but I am more than happy to look into it. I have seen local authorities across the country show a great deal of flexibility, particularly in the area where a house may be a three-bedroom house but there may only be two people in it. They may look at the size of a household versus the size of a property. I have been asking the local authorities to buy them anyway. It may require a reallocation into the future to secure that property and those tenancies. I do not know the details of that case, but I can tell the Deputy I am more than happy to look into it and to engage with Dublin City Council on it.

I want to commend Dublin City Council for the work they have been doing. They have been extremely proactive with regard to their purchases for the tenant in situ scheme. They have been performing very well. I will look at the details if Deputy O'Callaghan will share them with me and I will make contact with the Dublin City Council on that case.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister for that answer, which I appreciate. This is another extract from the email that a mother of two children, who is facing homelessness, has sent to me. She wrote:

My daughter has been diagnosed with severe dyslexia and is getting the help she needs in a new school. At 4th class this is her 4th school to attend. [...She needs] the stability and routine of staying in the same school and moving again. My health is suffering, the stress of the homeless crisis has resulted in my blood pressure going so high I have had 4 increases in blood pressure medication. The stress is killing me and I am scared of having a stroke or a heart attack and leaving my kids without a mother.

This is just one family who are being evicted into homelessness. There are thousands of other families around the country who are in similar situations. I appreciate that the Minister is going to look into this one case. However, in terms of all the people who are not being protected by the tenant in situ scheme, what is the Minister going to do to ensure the scheme is expanded in order that local authorities use it more for people who are really at risk of homelessness in situations like this?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The suite of measures is in place, and not just for HAP and RAS tenants. There is the cost-rental purchase scheme for tenants in situ. As I said, we have had our first approvals in that space and that has been managed by the Housing Agency. The other piece of work we have to do is the right of first refusal, about which we will bring forward legislation to the House in advance of the summer. A very significant change will be made there. Fundamentally, across all tenures, we need to increase supply. We did that significantly last year when there were almost 30,000 new builds and 10,253 new social homes.

For that lady who was in contact with the Deputy and who spoke of a child who had to move to four different schools, that speaks to the issue of there not being enough supply up to now to be able to provide secure and safe homes for people. Earlier this week, I was in Laois and Offaly, where we opened more than 200 new homes. There are really significant programmes on the ground there. That is the solution to it. I wish to assure the Deputy and tell tenants who find themselves in that situation to make contact with their local authorities because the local authorities have a full suite of measures. They are not restricted in relation to capital investment or funding.

The targets I set were baseline targets. There is no ceiling on this. Where Deputies receive specific cases, we have set up a contact line and have a secretariat in place under the management of Peter Carey in order that those cases can be brought to us and they will be looked at specifically.