Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It might help if I am as brief as possible because in many ways this is groundhog day. I was elected to Dublin City Council in 1999. One of the very early arguments we had was about housing in the city and the provision of social housing in particular. At that stage the city management, to a great extent, had made the decision, along with many other local authorities, to move away from the social housing model and allow the private sector to provide social housing, that is, rented, and that the voluntary housing groups would move in to provide that housing. I found that situation unsatisfactory at the time and argued wholeheartedly against it. Unfortunately, I won the argument and lost the war because in principle it was accepted that local authorities would stay involved in the provision of social housing but they never furthered the implementation of that.

Part V has been discussed in the House on many occasions and it was a very progressive idea that 20% of housing built would be affordable and social housing. That idea came from public representatives and community groups in the north and south docklands in Dublin city. In fairness, we had a very enlightened Minister for the Environment and Local Government at the time, the former Deputy Noel Dempsey, who took the idea on board and legislated for it. If that legislation had stayed as intended in the legislation right through the boom years when we saw massive building in the city, we would have got that 20% social and affordable housing. Unfortunately, the Minister was not to stay long enough to see it grow and flourish, and the succeeding Minister, former Deputy Martin Cullen, changed the legislation which allowed the huge building spree within the city without a provision for social housing. He gave exemptions in the planning permissions compared with those provided by the preceding Minister, the former Deputy Dempsey.

It is great to have this debate and discussion and there are many elements of the Sinn Féin amendment which I would support, especially relating to the consumer. Linking rents to the consumer price index is one of the things we fought for within Government but unfortunately were not able to deliver. I commend Sinn Féin on putting that on board.

I hope that when the Minister returns with his response, he may be able to update us on the provision of the 500 modular housing units. It is very important that they would be delivered on time in order that people can start moving out from the unsatisfactory situation of living in hotel rooms.

I put it to the Minister of State that there are many dangers facing us. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, met councillors from Dublin City Council on Monday night to listen to their concerns about housing issues in Dublin. It is very important that the Minister would visit as many local authorities. Councillors are working on the ground, they have solutions that can be implemented, and they can often be pragmatic.

However, we must also watch out for new dangers that might arise. Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn and Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, the chair of the city council's strategic policy committee on housing, are highlighting issues that affect not just Dublin but also other European capital cities and American cities. There is a phenomenon currently of renting homes, for example, through Airbnb and other such companies. There are approximately 1,700 units for rent in Dublin. I am concentrating on Dublin in this issue, because while the situation is also very urgent in Cork, Mayo and other counties and cities, the major crisis in homelessness at the moment is in Dublin. There are 1,700 units advertised between various websites, from apartments to homes for rent, and I believe this is a high percentage of the rental units available to families. These units can make a lot more money if they follow the Airbnb model. One two-bedroom apartment in the centre of Dublin city was able to make €79,000 per annum. Why would a landlord who owns a one or two-bedroom apartment not place that unit on one of those Internet rental sites? There may be a few extra service and management charges but the profits of renting to tourists are vastly greater than renting to families who live here. We need to keep a weather eye on that.

Seattle in Washington state has already moved to bring in legislation, San Francisco is currently reviewing the situation and Amsterdam has brought in legislation. Berlin is also going through a major housing crisis and is moving very quickly now to bring in controls and legislation over the tourism rental market. When we have such a scarcity of units in our capital city, we have to be aware that this phenomenon could have a negative effect, even though there are many positives such as increasing accommodation for tourists and investment. However, while we are experiencing a particular danger, we need to be acutely aware of the situation. We cannot afford to lose 1,700 units from the market in such a very fast-moving area.

During the formation of the Government and the negotiations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, one of the agreements was that rent supplement would be increased by 15%. I urge necessary caution with regard to that increase because the figures I have seen in the Department show that a 15% increase in rent supplement would cost approximately €56 million and would generate slightly in excess of 100 units. Most of that money would go straight to landlords. It would be better spent on providing built accommodation. The uplift from the current protocols is between 20% and 30%, or €220. I fear that the Minister's negotiating team of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were misguided. Their intentions may have been correct to suggest additional funding for rent supplement, but the Minister must be very cautious that he is not just putting in a subsidy for landlords instead of increasing additional units. A blanket increase of 15% would just go to landlords and would not create the additional units we all want. There is a real and urgent need to ensure the protocol continues. Reference was made to its operation in Mayo up to two months ago when it is in fact in operation in Mayo and people are accessing it. The protocol is operational throughout the country unless that has changed since. I would be concerned about that. I would be very grateful if the Minister of State could update us on that.