Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber today. The Government's Housing for All plan was published on 2 September 2021. It is a proposed roadmap for housing in the State up to the year 2030 and it sets out to make renting and purchasing affordable, eradicate homelessness, increase housing supply and ensure efficient use of existing housing stock. It is the most recent instalment in a series of plans, strategies and roadmaps since 2011 which have sought to fix the Irish housing market in the wake of the 2008 recession and the austerity that followed.While the issue of housing is often described as complex, the Government wastes no opportunity to remind us that so many of the market's problems cannot be fixed overnight. The genesis of so many of these problems is simple enough - the country went bust and everyone stopped building houses. Indeed, the idea of Ireland being in a housing crisis is so familiar to us now, there are some young adults who do not remember a time when this was not the case.

As we reel in the years of Irish housing policy, some of the figures are shocking. From 2004 to 2014, the number of houses built by the private sector declined by 85%. In 2015, all of the combined local authorities in the country built 75 houses. In 1975, 37 years ago, that figure was 8,794. According to councillors countrywide, an unofficial moratorium on building was in place across the country, with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications giving no funding for housing construction to local authorities.

A response to requests made in 2012 for additional funding to meet local need gives great insight into the attitude of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, as it was then called, at the time. The Department stated: "the Government has radically reformed housing policy, with a shift in focus towards leasing options, and greater involvement by the voluntary and community sector." With no new builds, no future-proofing or planning and letting NGOs pick up the slack, is it any wonder that we now have 500 separate housing bodies competing with local authorities on bids for existing stock? What has the fruit of all that been? Certainly not the eradication of homelessness.

We still have more than 10,000 people homeless in this country now competing with 54,000 Ukrainians for Government-provided housing. What changes have been made to Housing for All in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the influx of persons into this country fleeing that war? I pointed out in March, as did many others, that we saw the writing on the wall, which this Government seems chronically incapable of doing. It was logistically unfeasible in the extreme to commit to an uncapped number of wartime refugees. I stated then that this policy would not serve anyone, least of all the Ukrainian people in Ireland who would be forced to endure substandard conditions due to lack of Government resources. Once again, as with our warnings on cancer screening, these concerns were at best poo-pooed by the Government. At worst, those voicing them were denigrated to xenophobes. Once again, in the space of mere months, those concerns were seen to be entirely correct.

How many homes have been built this year? I understand the goal figure was 24,000. I got the Minister of State's breakdown today. There were 4,100 affordable and cost-rental homes included in that figure. How many of those has the Government built? Yesterday, the Minister visited County Meath and opened three housing estates. The first was for elder living. That was bought out by a housing agency. In the second, a private developer was building 22 homes. That was bought out by the county council. The third was county council land on which the council had built houses. No affordable homes were built in our town this year. I also understand that the commencement of constructions of units has entered its sixth consecutive month of decline. What will the impact of this be? How can this be reconciled with the Housing for All goals? Those figures are in the housing audit that came out last week.

Speaking of goals, it seems like every month, a new scheme is being rolled out to play its part in tackling the housing crisis. This is all very well and good. Government schemes have certainly been the drivers of positive change in this country, but they must be closely monitored for their performance and adjusted where necessary. Two housing schemes, which others and I feel are indeed an improvement, are the Croí Cónaithe or towns fund scheme and the repair-and-leasing scheme. The latter scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required standard for rental properties. In return for funding, the property owner agrees to lease the dwelling to the local authority for use as social housing. Take-up on this scheme has been dismally low. The Minister of State informed me last year that from 2017 to the end of 2020, the owners of a mere 234 dwellings had availed of the scheme. I am highly surprised that 190 came from County Waterford. An increase of the funding cap from €40,000 to €60,000 in November 2020 has served to increase interest but bigger loans need to be made available in the context of that scheme. What would people get for €40,000 or €60,000 these days? They would not get a new roof.

The Croí Cónaithe or towns fund scheme offers €30,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private resident. Anyone who refurbishes a property will tell you that €30,000 is a drop in the ocean. Where the property is confirmed by the applicant to be derelict, that is, structurally unsound and dangerous, the Department will helpfully grant another €20,000. The problem is that a person cannot get a mortgage for a house in that state. As a result, the €20,000 is null and void. There are amendments the Minister of State could take on board with regard to that scheme. Perhaps that is something Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can look at. People cannot get the mortgages for those properties if they are in a poor state.

Housing for All states that the Government is committed to supporting homeownership. This makes me glad, but how will this work alongside a national right to housing? Will a right to housing entail persons being forcibly downsized in their homes, or ordered to move out so that another larger family can take their place? It may seem like an out-there suggestion, but these are fears some people have today. Does this Government plan for a move forward to move towards rent-for-life housing as a solution? I attended the Respond briefing in Buswells Hotel approximately one month ago, and the Government's model was very clear. It is going for build-to-rent housing only. That is the only gig in town as regards providing houses. It was very clear that this is the model of housing that will be built in this country in the future. Does the Government plan to move toward rent-for-life housing as a solution? Will the dilution of constitutionally protected property rights be used as a drastic measure by the Government to try to solve this crisis? These are the questions I would like answered today.