Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Several important issues have been raised with regard to increasing the affordable supply and the proposal from Senator Higgins on public-public partnerships. This is all about the State taking the lead in the provision of affordable housing. When debating the previous amendment, the indication from the Minister of State was on expanding it from local authorities to NGOs and not-for-profit organisations. Our amendment will put into legislation a requirement on local authorities to publish affordable housing targets within a specified timeframe. The whole thrust of the Bill is about the State taking the lead and using every potential to deliver affordable housing. I see this amendment as overlegislating.

If we were to remove the public private partnership element, we would have to accept that we would be removing from our local authorities the power to use and make available to our citizens privately-built homes by private builders. We would be stating that as a State, we will not financially support people to buy private homes. We would have to buy in to a utopian ideal of everybody living in social housing and State-provided housing that is built by State construction companies where everybody earns the same wage and everybody is involved in the provision of social housing. The reality is that we want a mix. I believe the people whom we represent want a mix. People want to be able to own their own homes. At present, public private partnerships are delivering homes in Waterford, as Senator Cummins said, and will deliver 1,200 homes in Malahide.Even in my own constituency of Dublin Central, a planning application has gone in for O'Devaney Gardens that will deliver 1,000 homes in a constituency where there is very low home ownership. We will have a mix there of social homes, affordable purchase homes and private homes because people in my constituency want the option to own their own home. Not only will that partnership deliver more than 1,000 affordable, social and private homes, it will deliver a community crèche, a community centre, retail, playgrounds, and parks. We have also got a local employment clause on that agreement and we have an apprenticeship clause. That is really positive for my constituency. That is more than 1,000 families in my constituency who have an opportunity to have a secure affordable A-energy rated home on State-owned lands. If we remove the potential for that type of a partnership, that is a minimum of 1,000 families who will be immediately disappointed.

We are clearly legislating to have the State take the lead in the provision of housing. We are putting forward this legislation so that primarily local authorities, and other not-for-profit State and non-State agencies, can take the lead. We would be tying not one hand but both hands behind our back if we were to, say, legislate today to remove the potential for the State to partner with private operators to deliver, not only homes but vital social infrastructure. I ask that the Senator would withdraw the amendment.