Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have been caught on the hop. The Minister is welcome to the House and I thank him for being here. It is an important debate. Like Senator McFadden I dispel the idea that the Fine Gael Party is not concerned with housing and does not build social housing or support the construction of such housing. I commend the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English. In Cork city the Minister has opened a number of housing developments and we have just signed a contract in Deanrock estate with the Department to construct more than 60 social houses. Go over Tramore road to Sheridan Park and one will find people living in new houses provided under Rebuilding Ireland. If we were to listen to some people in this housing debate we would swear nothing at all is happening and the Minister is uncaring, as he was unfairly portrayed by Deputy Darragh O'Brien. Of course he cares. I know Deputy Murphy to be a person of sincerity and intellect who is committed to this in his Department, as is the Minister of State, Deputy English. I always speak on housing as I believe in both the Minister and the Minister of State.

I am impatient to see change and to have it more quickly like everybody else. The alleviation of the housing crisis is a Government priority. Rebuilding Ireland is ahead of its targets but we all accept there is a road to travel. We must be honest in recognising there is no quick single fix for this. The targeted Government initiatives are working, although perhaps we need to tweak some of them. Perhaps we must be creative and think outside the box as well. I know Senator Murnane O'Connor spoke of historical but it is important to recognise that the construction sector was decimated and there are now fewer people employed in the housing and construction sector. We can compare the number of builders of houses in Cork now with 15 or 16 years ago and it is a fraction. I appreciate that under the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, there is a new apprenticeship recruitment process but we can consider the age profile in the construction sector. Many builders have now retired or gone abroad so we must think about how we can incentivise people to come back to the sector.

Fundamental in the debate is that demand is outpacing supply. Notwithstanding the Minister's speech and his actions, we must take additional measures to stimulate supply. One of the problems is the price of development land and the way in which the price of land affects developers. At one stage in my political life I was of the view that developers were the bogey men but they are not. We need to have developers as part of the process, even if it is not developer-led.I have tremendous faith in someone like Mr. Michael O'Flynn in Cork. I think he is a visionary and has an idea of where the construction sector should go. Equally, I know from looking at people like Mr. John Cleary in Cork, who has taken risks to build, construct and change the public landscape of Cork, that we need people like him. They are people of courage. In saying that, I refer the whole issue of how we have zoned land. Some of us were members of local authorities. Where we put land in the past and zoned it made no sense whatsoever. The Minister in his speech spoke about the vacant site levy and incremental increases in it. We all need land to build. However, are we at the point now, and I am speaking with no vested interest whatsoever in this, where we are putting a huge impediment on developers or on State agencies building because of the price of land?

I welcome the affordable housing initiative that the Minister has taken. We need to see people getting on the property ladder and able to have the dream of owning their own property fulfilled. It has come to my attention in my clinics that a number of people have been refused under the affordable housing scheme by Cork City Council. I am mystified as to why they have been refused. I am trying to get that rectified. I welcome any help we can get for these people. We need to have people buying and owning their own property. The Minister's speech is one that we need to see published further. The fundamental and key issue we must all face is that the amount of land available to build on must be increased. The economic viability for developers to build and sell needs to be examined, as does the ability of local authorities to deliver social housing units.

The price of affordable housing to the purchaser must be at the forefront of what we do. The 2017 daft.iereport referred to a change of policy to increase supply and quantity. I am confident that in a number of years the Minister will deliver. I hope he will continue to be bold, to be creative, to engage and to think outside the box. Some of the old ways have not worked. I hope the Minister will move beyond some of the thinking from those who have been in the Custom House for a long time. I commend the Minister on his work. I salute him because he is trying, as is the Minister of State, Deputy English. I believe we will see an increase in output in the coming year.