Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss housing, a topic that has not the headlines for almost 14 years. How long has Ireland had a housing crisis? How long has Ireland been in its homelessness crisis? How long will it be before the Government seeks to deliver effective solutions to these problems? The Government has committed to the mission of housing for all, and this is the first problem. The mission should be homes for all, and the Bill should have a name change accordingly. A fundamental attitude change should be taking place across the board in this respect.

Supply of affordable homes that people have the means to purchase or rent is the key issue. New planning guidelines issued by the Minister ban bulk purchasing of houses and duplexes but developers can still bulk purchase apartments. The new owner-occupier guarantee measures also do not include apartments. Ireland has a supply issue and by confining our solutions to the supply of houses and duplexes, we are still confining supply. Ireland needs more homes and the Affordable Housing Bill does not go about supplying these.

The Bill contains three schemes, which were described as swift, short-term measures aimed at the ongoing housing crisis at the Seanad Second Stage briefing. However, what about the long-term effects of such short-term solutions? First, I draw attention to the word “purchase” in the affordable dwelling purchase scheme. Why are we focused on purchasing? Why are we focused on providing homes to buy? Why are we not considering those who do not want to purchase? Some people are perfectly happy to rent from local authorities. Apartments and houses that are rented at affordable rates can be homes; they can be affordable homes and they can be an effective solution.

Admittedly, the Bill does have a provision for a rental scheme. It is stated that the Government wishes to introduce the European cost rental scheme to Ireland, something which was recommended by the National Economic and Social Council, NESC and the Nevin Economic Research Institute, NERI. However, the briefing paper provided to Senators on the Bill explains that this form of tenure will have to compete against the heavily incentivised purchase scheme. Those on average incomes will have to decide between home ownership and home rental, and if the Government is focusing on providing affordable homes to purchase, then apartments will remain unaffordable to rent. The Government's heavy incentive for home ownership could undermine this one effort it makes for renters in the housing market.

Furthermore, the issue of supply remains. Under the affordable dwelling purchase scheme, the serviced sites fund will use €188 million to supply 6,200 new houses. To make these new builds more affordable for the purchaser, the Government wants to instigate an affordable purchase shared equity scheme. This is a scheme the ESRI has specifically warned against. Dr Conor O'Toole of the ESRI, speaking at a Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage meeting, informed the Government that increasing purchasing power for households through a loosening of credit constraints is likely to lead to higher house prices in the long term. If the Government wants to increase buyers’ purchasing power with the affordable purchase equity scheme, it would need to guarantee that the supply of affordable homes is adequate to meet the demand. Unless the Government can guarantee this adequate supply, this Bill will cause an acute increase in the severity of the affordability issue.

The Central Bank released figures in 2019 stating that Ireland would require 34,000 new dwellings every year for the next ten years to meet demand. In 2020, with the outbreak of the pandemic, 20,000 houses were built and the ESRI has predicted that this figure will fall to 15,000 this year. Considering this, it is fair to say the Government cannot guarantee adequate supply when the funds that have been allocated to these measures will only increase housing by 6,200 between now and 2023. Furthermore, Colm McCarthy noted in the Irish Independent at the weekend that serial objectors to planning permissions are holding up the plans the Government and developers have in place, people who traverse the country with almost unlimited access to the courts to object to building plans. The short-term fix will have the long-term cost of making our housing more expensive because the planning system itself is broken and the supply is not there.In the 2019 budget, the Government allocated €146 million towards homelessness services. In December 2020, we still had 8,200 homeless people in the country. Under the Affordable Housing Bill 2021, the Government will be spending more money on the housing crisis but will this really solve the issue? The Minister should consider assembling a task force which would bring in everybody, including the chief executives of county councils, senior planners, representatives from Irish Water and all the developers who have zoned and serviced lands ready to go. We should have them all walk out with planning permissions that meet the needs of the community in each county, allowing them to get the job done.

I have spoken before about how the Government's lack of clarity on its housing policies and guidelines is leading to incohesive decisions at local level. Last year, residential land in Meath was dezoned in accordance with Government regulations and directions from the Office of the Planning Regulator. A task force would bring deliver a co-ordinated approach which would help to avoid decisions like that made by Meath County Council, which has affected housing supply in the county and, therefore, the affordability of houses. If the Minister for Health can be given emergency powers during a pandemic, why can the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage not be given emergency powers to do what is necessary during the housing crisis? The International Monetary Fund recommended that Ireland tackle the housing problem-----