Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I take this opportunity to congratulate the Ministers of State, Deputies Dillon and Cummins. Deputy Cummins served on the housing committee, which sets him up well for the question I am about to put before him. The site on Oscar Traynor Road is incredibly important in the overall Housing For All programme and the overall programme of State construction of public housing on public land. There are more than 800 houses, comprising cost-rental, affordable purchase and social housing. It was hoped we could get rapid delivery.

As we move into the second term of Housing For All, delivery has to be the key objective on every site where we have made investment. Unfortunately, when I visited the Oscar Traynor Road site on Friday, no activity was taking place. There is no activity on the entire site, although the road network has been laid out, the parks and landscaping are already in place and many of the houses are either under construction or, in some cases, finished. There would appear to be an impasse between Dublin City Council's building control unit, Glenveagh, which is the provider of the houses, and Dublin City Council, which is the client.

I welcome the fact there are frequent, regular and unannounced checks on housing development. This is an important step that will prevent the mistakes of the past being repeated. Whatever the issue is on site, Dublin City Council and Glenveagh need to come together to ensure that construction gets back up and running and that we have timely and rapid delivery of homes at the site. Yesterday, Dublin City Council's assistant city manager for housing made a report to councillors and referred to issues with radon barriers, dormer windows, plaster rendering and moisture. These are all issues that would, I imagine, be readily resolvable if we could get everybody around the table. At this stage, that is what we need.

The tricky position for Dublin City Council is that it is the regulatory authority. It is responsible for building control and, separately, it is the client on the site. It is not only Dublin City Council that is the client because the State and the Department are funding the overall development on the site. There is an onus on everyone to get around the table to try to resolve whatever issues are there and ensure we can continue construction on the site.

The other angle is that many people did not support this project and voted against it when it came before the council. They have deliberately misconstrued the very heavily subsidised prices on the site. One of the biggest misnomers I found during the election was that houses were for sale on this site for €500,000. Those were the prices before reductions of more than €100,000 in some cases. There were also further reductions when we take into account other subsidies under Housing For All. In many cases, we had three-bedroom homes coming in at €360,000 or €370,000. There will be more details on this as the site develops. This is why people want to buy homes on the site. These will be affordable homes. They are in a part of the city where there is not a great deal of private development because it is mostly apartment development in the city. This is why homes are required and why we need to make sure the site is delivered. Regardless of what happens on the site I ask that it be a continuing priority of the Minister of State and the Minister. This is a flagship project for Housing For All and for the State in the context of being involved in the provision of housing. We have to make sure it is a good example and not a bad one.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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As this is my first contribution in the House, I ask for its indulgence for a moment as I thank my wife, my family, my friends, my supporters and the Fine Gael members who have assisted me in recent years and, in particular, during November's election campaign. Most importantly, I wish to place on record my thanks to the people of Waterford, who have placed their trust in me, and to the Tánaiste for appointing me as Minister of State with special responsibility for planning and local government. I very much look forward to working with everybody in the House in a collaborative fashion in the coming years.

I thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this very important issue. It is one we often spoke about when I was a member of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The development of the lands at Oscar Traynor Road has the potential to provide significant additional housing in a strategically important part of our capital city, involving the delivery of 853 homes, with accompanying community and créche buildings in multiple phases. It is intended that 340 of these will be cost-rental homes, 343 will be social homes, and 170 will be affordable purchase homes, giving a 40:40:20 tenure mix.

The project commenced on site last March, and work is being undertaken by Glenveagh developments. Considerable experience and resources are being deployed by the developer on the project, with the appointment of an assigned certifier, project architects, structural engineers, fire safety consultants, access consultants and other specialist technical advisers. All building works of this nature are subject to the requirements of the building control regulations and regulations made under the Building Control Acts 1990, as amended, to ensure the safety and well-being of persons in the built environment.

Dublin City Council advised that due to the scale and importance of this large housing development, it has been prioritised for inspection by the city's building control team. During the course of several building control inspections last year, concerns regarding compliance of the works with relevant parts of the building regulations were identified and in line with standard operating procedures were brought to the attention of site management and the assigned certifier. Given its statutory, regulatory and enforcement role under the Building Control Acts, this is a matter for the building control office in Dublin City Council and the Government. I have to respect its independent statutory role in this matter.

I understand that the developer is engaging with Dublin City Council regarding resolution of these issues and is actively working to ensure that all homes in this development will be finished to a high standard in order to achieve full compliance with building regulatory standards. Building control officers will continue regular routine inspections over the coming weeks and months through to the completion of this project in order to ensure both adequate public oversight and the necessary confidence that the requirements of the building regulations will be achieved.

I note the Deputy's comments that works are no longer happening on the site. The information I have been provided with is that other works in relation to the public realm of the development have been brought forward in order to try to minimise any further delays of the overall project timeframe and that it is still on course for delivery on a phased basis between 2025 and 2028.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. The point he makes in regard to the current status of the project is important because it would appear that yesterday Dublin City Council was also unaware that there was no activity on site. While there appear to be some attempts to bring forward some of the public realm elements, a site such as this should be heaving. It should be a hive of activity. More than 200 people were on site at one point, which is very far from the situation I encountered when I visited it on Friday.

The important point is that of course issues will arise on a site. Dublin City Council has every right to make interventions. The provider of the housing should be reaching the client's expectations and also the statutory expectations. All of that should be taken as read. However, whatever is happening on the site would appear to be the beginning of a prolonged period of inactivity. That is what I fear. We have to make sure that whatever is happening is resolved quickly, that we get people around the table and that we ensure that the issues are resolved. I say that because it is not just about this site. In my constituency, we are starting to see more and more Housing for All sites opening up. More than 2,000 units across the constituency are at different levels of design and planning stages. Many of those are now proceeding to the construction phase. We must make sure that where Dublin City Council is the client and, ultimately, where the State and the Department are providing homes, that delays cannot be tolerated or allowed and that where they arise, issues are resolved in a way that ensures timely delivery.

This is very important to the community and the people who want to live there. Value for money, State spending and how we deliver projects are also important, as is the competency of Dublin City Council to deliver. The Department needs to do everything it can to support Dublin City Council, which needs to get around the table with the provider. Glenveagh Homes needs to step up and provide the solutions that need to be provided.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I again thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this important issue. I assure him that, from the information I have been provided with, a dialogue is occurring in order to try to find a satisfactory resolution. As he is aware, this is a very important development for the area. It is being delivered under Housing for All. We are committed to ensuring that it will be delivered in good time and in full compliance with the building standards. Doing so will ensure that the best outcome will be achieved for the taxpayer and prospective homeowners and tenants, which is so important.

Dublin City Council is confident that any of the compliance issues previously identified can be resolved appropriately and without any undue delay to the overall project timeframe. It is worth noting as well that Dublin City Council has already advertised 16 of the affordable purchase homes. The council remains confident that these will be delivered during the first phase of delivery before the end of this year. I also note that Dublin City Council reconvened its Oscar Traynor Road consultative forum on 24 January in conjunction with the developer. It will continue to engage with stakeholders. A meeting of public representatives, to which the Deputy referred, took place on site on 10 February.

I assure the Deputy that this project is a high priority for the Government. We want to see these quality homes being delivered in order that families and individuals can be moved into them as early as practical in line with the timeframes and, obviously, in full compliance with standards.