Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

Those of us who have served on local authorities are aware that waiting lists for social housing and housing in general remain stubbornly high. The Simon Communities of Ireland reminded Members recently that 1,725 households live in unfit accommodation, 4,112 households live in overcrowded accommodation and 3,375 households are involuntarily sharing. There are good grounds for the Government to continue to place an emphasis on increasing social housing output, which would have positive consequences for the housing market in general.

The introduction of much higher building standards has been another positive development on the part of the Government. I pay credit to my party colleague, the Minister, Deputy Gormley, and his Cabinet colleagues in that regard. The improved building standards will have a positive impact on the new housing stock that comes on stream from this year. Under the new regulations, the demand for heat energy in all new houses will have to be reduced by 40%. The new guidelines will lead to much warmer houses that are much cheaper to run. In 2015, the rules will be revised upwards to provide for a 60% reduction in the demand for heat energy. This is a welcome development for those who will live in the new housing stock, especially those who will occupy social housing.

Urban renewal has also been mentioned during this debate. As part of our urban planning framework, we need to start improving the way we plan our town and village centres. We must look for smart growth as opposed to urban sprawl. There is a tendency for the centres of towns to fall into decline, including commercial decline. I do not believe there is a need for the zoning that is taking place on the outskirts of towns and where town boundaries are being pushed out as part of local area plans. The focus should be on smart growth in which town and village centres are developed. This usually means an increase in densities but good quality development will serve the interests of a town and its development. The use of master plans by local authorities will mean proper forecasting of the transport, education and community needs of the town. Many main towns have backlands which could be rezoned to consolidate the existing town centre. Town centres should be made more suitable for walking and cycling and there should be pedestrian links from one part of a town to another. Traffic congestion leads to town centres being full of exhaust fumes and not conducive as places where children can walk or cycle to school. Adequate civic and open spaces should also be provided in town centres, which would provide social and ecological benefits.

The issue of higher density seems to be the way to go for smarter growth. Apartment developments should be of high quality. I refer to studies undertaken recently by Dublin City Council that are very helpful in highlighting some of the issues in this regard. Part 1 of the report, Successful Apartment Living, made recommendations on the minimum size for apartments. We are all aware of the large quantity of new apartments which often leave a lot to be desired in terms of quality, both of construction and of size. These apartments are not built for family living. We are encouraging people to consider the rental option as an alternative to home ownership but it will be difficult if apartments are not being built to accommodate young families. It is unfortunate that apartments are still being built to cater for the stereotypical childless couple thus making it very difficult for families who must rent apartment accommodation to be able to survive and manage in them.

The reports by Dublin City Council are to be welcomed, the most recent of which reviewed 193 apartment schemes, consisting of almost 16,000 apartments. It found the majority of these schemes did not cater for residents from childhood to adulthood and retirement. The council also found the following: only three of the developments surveyed had designated outdoor play areas for children; there were crèche facilities in just nine developments and eight of these had been built since 2000; just over one quarter of all developments had open space suitable for use by children; one third of the schemes had no lifts, despite having multiple floors; disabled access was poor; and 75% of the complexes had poor fire safety facilities.

I will discuss with my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, the introduction of a requirement on local authorities to ensure that the standard of design and management in apartment complexes being built as part of smart growth will be of high quality and suitable for family living.

The issue of homelessness has been mentioned by other Senators. We must recognise that there are 2,500 people who are homeless in the State. In Dublin the number of homeless people sleeping rough is estimated to be anywhere between 50 and 100 per night. The Government must promote sustained spending on programmes to tackle homelessness otherwise the numbers will increase due to pressure at the lower end of the market in both the rented and home-owning sectors.