Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators. As the Chair has outlined, I am just reporting on amendments made in the Dáil. Amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3 relate to section 6 of the Bill, which allows local authorities to enter arrangements with specific bodies for the provision of affordable homes. I previously accepted a Seanad amendment to subsection 6(4) to refer to the long-term sustainability of diverse communities, including the intergenerational sustainability of urban communities. The Government amendment — No. 3 — to section 6(4), as passed by the Seanad, removes the word "undue" and the amended provision will read:

In performing its functions under subsection (1), a housing authority shall have regard to the need to— (a) counteract segregation in housing between persons of different social backgrounds, and support the long-term sustainability of diverse communities, including the inter-generational sustainability of urban communities.

These amendments had their genesis in the Seanad, whose views we took on board and brought to the Dáil. I am satisfied the provision adequately captures the requirement on housing authorities to consider the need to support diverse and sustainable communities.

On amendments Nos. 1 and 2, I previously accepted a Sinn Féin amendment in the Seanad to allow housing authorities to enter arrangements with co-operatives, community housing trusts and other not-for-profit bodies to make dwellings available for affordable dwelling purchase arrangements. This added such bodies to approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and public–private partnerships. While the principle of this Opposition amendment has been accepted, it was made clear that it would need to be refined and reviewed to ensure it was legally sound. Having done that, I tabled an amendment in the Dáil to replace the provision with "arrangements with a community-led housing organisation, a housing cooperative or a community land trust". I also proposed the inclusion of a new subsection (3) in the section, which allows the Minister to prescribe "minimum requirements in relation to governance, previous experience, financial management and financial reporting" to be met by such organisations, housing co-operatives or community land trusts.

These revised provisions have been drafted after consideration by my officials and in consultation with the Housing Agency and the Attorney General's office. I am satisfied that the amended provisions will be fit for purpose. They are significant. In fairness, there has been a broad welcome from the community housing sector. I believe this is the first time in legislation that it has been specifically referred to. That, in itself, is important. It shows we have genuinely taken on board the debates in the Seanad and the Opposition amendments. I brought the proposals to the Dáil and am now reporting to the Seanad that they have been taken on board. That concludes my comments on Government amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3.