Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think so. Why not? It is a great coalition of working partners together.

The Bill will provide affordable homes for families and it will give people their first opportunity to own a home. That is a commitment in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, which was prepared by all three parties in government. It commits the Government to the mission of housing for all, that everybody should have access to good quality housing for purchase or rent at an affordable price and that the State has a fundamental role in enabling the delivery of new homes. However, the State is not the only stakeholder in this regard. In facing this challenge, we need innovation among all stakeholders to increase construction and we also need clear project management to implement these measures.I was reading a number of articles over the weekend and then went back to look at census 2016. I realised we had a housing stock of 2 million homes and apartments. Over 183,000 were vacant units, excluding vacant holiday homes. I welcome the expansion of the repair and lease scheme from 40,000 to 60,000 but I would like to see an awful lot more dedicated to this area.

I have rented and am still renting. I have rented for many years in Dublin city centre and, as our Labour Senator was saying, I have rented and am renting again in Dublin north. I know what it is like when one has to move home when landlords go into the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA. I would like to see how we are using this. When new regulations came in, developers and property owners did not develop their homes to respond to this. There could be more in the repair and lease. Investment firms are a small part, as I understand, of the overall housing market, holding less than 1% of all housing stock and 5% of tenancies. Since 2016, under Rebuilding Ireland we have had nearly 85,000 new homes built by the end of this quarter. I support integrated development and a mix of housing and we need to consider including recreational space and access to community services.

In my area of Ballinasloe, a number of developments have been approved for planning but none are moving forward. Why is that? We cannot find places to rent in Ballinasloe yet we are inundated with vacant areas on our streets. We cannot get our construction and developers to move forward. How do we do this?

This Affordable Housing Bill contains the first scheme of direct State-built affordable homes in over a decade. The State will take an equity stake and, all over the country, it will be between 160,000 and 310,000. When the house is bought, the State will get its equity stake back. The Minister has indicated it is €310 million for the serviced sites fund, which will allow 6,200 units. How will we move those forward this year? There is a lot of difficulty at the moment in terms of coming out of lockdown.

It is the first national scheme to provide delivery of cost rental housing. I have been renting in Dublin for many years. I cannot believe I went back to Galway to rent and then went back to Dublin again. It was a bit of a surprise to me. In both Galway and Dublin cities, I have had to leave where I was renting, not by choice. Although there are many who would like to take on renting as a choice, I do not believe the European model is the same here or that someone can rent a place and have security of tenure for 20 to 30 years. That choice is not left to the tenant. The Minister's scheme is very welcome, particularly that he will look at 25% below market price, considering that in Dublin 40% of the average wage is dedicated towards rent.

There are regional price caps on the new affordable purchase shared equity scheme for homes and private development. This is welcome. It is important in our regional areas to keep towns and villages alive and maintain services. That is crucial. The town centre first strategy is also coming in here.

The provision for the extension of the Part V to 20% within each local authority. As the Minister heard me say in our meeting, Galway County Council is the second lowest funded council in the country. The average spend on housing is €400, according to the localauthorityfinances.comwebsite, developed by the National University of Ireland, Galway. Yet in County Galway, it is €80 per head. That is a shocking statistic. We need more supports within our local authorities.

My questions are on how we get construction moving and on resources for local authorities.