Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and his officials to the House. The briefing he provided on the Bill and the various amendments that have already been submitted was very useful. It is a comprehensive Bill which will ensure oversight of the entire approved housing body sector. The Minister knows that I was involved in the early stages of the Bill's development and I am delighted that it is now coming to its final fruition and passing through the Houses of the Oireachtas. Hopefully it will be in place by Christmas.

The Bill is essentially intended to ensure effective governance and regulation of the approved housing body sector. As the Minister said, the primary focus is to protect tenants who use approved housing body housing and to ensure that any public or private investment in the approved housing body sector is made with proper oversight and accountability. This Bill does this through the establishment of the regulatory framework and the board which will act as a regulator in this sector. Most, if not all, of us agree that approved housing bodies play a significant role in the provision of social and sheltered housing. One hears from time to time that too much investment goes to approved housing bodies and more should go to the councils and local authorities. I will come back to that but, irrespective of the debate, it is important that in the interests of confidence there is adequate oversight, transparency and accountability in the approved housing body sector. The purpose of the Bill is to provide that oversight and governance and to provide for a register of approved housing bodies. That is important. There are quite a few approved housing bodies, some very large and some quite small.

It is also important that we have full compliance with the standards in the provision of social housing set down by the Minister or any of his successors who review them. It is important that there is a proper structure and framework in place by which reporting and investigations, where necessary, can be carried out in a fair and balanced way, with the right of appeal. That is provided for in this Bill. A framework is also needed where interventions are necessary, whether in a management or a capacity role, and where assistance is needed for approved housing bodies. We must remember that the directors and staff of many of these approved housing bodies are voluntary.There may be times that interventions and supports are necessary to support those who are willing to give their time and expertise to provide more housing in this sector. That is a positive and it should be seen in that light. Also, there is an important role to be played in promoting awareness of and providing information on the sector to the public, where appropriate, and on its performance in retaining statistics and data that could be utilised to improve efficiencies in delivery as we see fit. By and large, the vast majority of approved housing bodies perform extremely well. We acknowledge that but there is a need for governance and oversight of the sector where interventions are needed.

The primary people involved are the families and tenants who utilise social housing governed by approved housing bodies. We can all point to numerous examples of sheltered housing, housing for the elderly and disabled and other types of housing in which the approved housing body sector has been involved. I commend those working in the sector and thank them for their efforts in working to provide homes for those in most need.

Some approved housing bodies in my area in Waterford are long established. One is the well-known Respond housing association, which provides housing and apartments for people in need throughout the country. Clúid Housing is another well-known body and there are hundreds of others.

I am sure the Minister will agree with me that, sadly, the approved housing body sector lost a great advocate recently with the death of Simon Brooke, the head of policy for Clúid Housing Association. I had many engagements with Mr. Brooke over the years and he was a passionate advocate who always put the tenant first. His buzzwords were "providing great homes". Clúid has certainly lost a great man and I extend my sympathies to Mr. Brooke's family. The sector is at a loss on his passing.

The Minister outlined the increasing number of social housing units being delivered. I acknowledge he has substantially increased the building and delivery of housing units throughout the country. As he correctly noted, unprecedented funding is being provided for housing provision. I commend him on that. It is a difficult challenge we have all faced. If we stick with the task and support all the stakeholders who are working assiduously to deliver more housing, I have no doubt we will get there. The challenge of housing provision cannot be resolved in a simplistic way. We cannot wave a magic wand to solve it. There are many stages and steps involved in the provision of housing. We must acknowledge the increased number of houses being built, refurbished and let. Substantial progress has been made but more still needs to be done, as all of us will agree. At the end of the day, it is a matter of supply and delivery, which are critical.

We need to continue working with all the stakeholders, including the Oireachtas and the Minister on the policy side, the Department and its officials and the housing authorities, namely, the councils, and their staff. We need to keep the bar high and the foot to the pedal. We need our elected officials - councillors around the country - to support that aspiration and effort. I also mention the State agencies where lands are available. Much work is going into unlocking potential lands to provide more housing. There is capacity in the private sector to continue to provide more houses. I also mention those in the construction sector who are available and willing to build more houses. Of all of those stakeholders, a very important one is the approved housing body sector. Many of these bodies are passionate about housing. They will continue to invest their expertise and give their time voluntarily in an effort to provide more housing. This is a good day for the approved housing body sector in that it builds confidence for further investment in that area. It is an important stakeholder which will continue to deliver additional housing and will need continuous support to do that.

We will deal with the Bill in more detail in the coming days. I note all the amendments that have been made to improve it and the Minister outlined the reasons they were made. I wish the Bill well and look forward to further debate on it in the coming days.