Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2006 was seen as innovative legislation because it sought to ensure that new housing developments made provision for people who could not afford to purchase a home at current market prices. Part V stipulated that 20% of all new housing developments must be ring-fenced for social and affordable housing. It is, therefore, despicable that developers were subsequently allowed to offer money in lieu of providing 20% of new developments as social and affordable housing or to build Part V housing units away from the primary site. I ask that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government contact all local authorities to discover how much money has been accepted from developers in lieu of Part V housing, how the authorities spent that money and how many developers have been allowed to develop social housing away from the primary site and, in many cases, not within reasonable distance of infrastructure and services.

The philosophy of the Part V provisions was to ensure mixed housing development so that different social and economic groups would not be separated into different housing environments. Having a home means access to a place that is private, safe, secure and affordable and has links to a community with a social infrastructure. Councillors throughout the State tell me that a considerable percentage of their work involves housing issues and that thousands of people remain on housing lists.