Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I am aware from his membership of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government that he has a keen interest in the matter. We often battle politely in that forum and I very much appreciate his engagement, expertise and interest in this area.

Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness recognises the key contribution that approved housing bodies, AHBs, make to the delivery of social housing. AHBs are expected to contribute approximately one third of the 50,000 new social housing units that are to be provided over the period of the plan. The capacity of AHBs to deliver on the targets set out in the plan will require them to expand greatly and to seek significantly increased levels of external investment in the sector. AHBs that have statutorily regulated standards of governance and management capacity will be better able to access loan finance, which will greatly assist them to develop and expand in line with the objectives set out in the Rebuilding Ireland plan.

Under existing legislation, housing bodies are granted approved status by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government under section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 for the purpose of receiving funding from local authorities to provide social housing. This arrangement has been in place since 1992 and the Government acknowledges that a more modern regulatory system needs to be put in place to oversee a sector which has developed significantly since then.

My Department is working with the Attorney General's office in drafting the housing (regulation of registered housing providers) Bill which will provide statutory regulation for the AHB sector. It is intended to establish a regulator to oversee the effective governance, financial management and performance of voluntary and co-operative housing bodies in providing housing in accordance with the Housing Acts. The Bill aims to introduce stronger safeguards for public and private investment in the social housing provision sector, to establish a framework that will enable the voluntary and co-operative housing sector to contribute more effectively to the provision of social housing, and to ensure the assets built through investments in the sector are managed sustainably. The statutory regulatory framework will provide further assurances to tenants, the Government and investors and to the sector itself that social housing providers operate in a well-regulated and stable environment.

The regulator will be responsible for approving and registering housing bodies and the setting of regulatory standards. The Bill will provide extensive powers for the regulator in respect of the undertaking of inquiries, investigations and assessments. The regulator will also have enforcement and other powers. My Department is working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to finalise the text of the Bill for publication as soon as possible. I had hoped that the Bill would be published before now, but the complex nature of some issues related to transitioning from voluntary to statutory regulation has required additional time. Notwithstanding this, I hope to publish the Bill before the end of the current Dáil term.

The Government is acutely aware of the importance of this sector and, in advance of establishing the statutory regulatory framework, put in place measures to prepare the sector for the new regulatory regime. In 2014, an interim regulation committee for the AHB sector was established under the auspices of the Housing Agency, which, supported by a regulation office based within the agency, oversees implementation of a voluntary regulation code, VRC, for AHBs.

A number of recent developments, including the decision by EUROSTAT and the CSO to reclassify AHBs as being part of the general government balance and the Central Bank's amending regulations to facilitate credit unions to provide funding to AHBs under certain conditions, are feeding into our considerations on the legislation and will ensure that the regulatory framework reflects the current and forward-looking policy context for the approved housing body sector. My Department is working intently on finalising the legislative proposals for submission to Government. In the meantime, I am confident that the interim arrangements for regulating the sector will ensure that it continues to operate to a high standard and enable it to fulfil its role under the Rebuilding Ireland action plan.