Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus gabhaim buíochas leis as a bheith anseo inniu. This is a really important debate. None of us can turn on the radio or look at social media, television or newspapers without seeing or hearing a discussion about housing. Everybody is an expert. God love the Minister for being the man with the job. In case he did not get the newsflash, he is not doing it well enough. That is the consensus among the general public. This debate is most important for those who do not own a home, young people and those who are at risk of homelessness. I am pleased to stand here today to support the Minister and to say he is doing a good job, as are his officials, the people working in local authorities around the country and in approved housing bodies, AHBs, and the people who are building homes, whether for private sale, affordable cost rental or affordable purchase. I do not care what type of home is being built as long as it is one that is secure and affordable.

I first talked about a housing crisis back in 2010 when I was in Dublin City Council. I was told by many people over the years that I should not catastrophise. I am the mother of three young adult children. I am in politics to try to make a contribution and deliver change. My children motivate me. Listening to them and others of their generation, I hear the fear and anxiety that has been instilled in them. It makes me angry for them and angry at our generation that this situation has been allowed to develop. I support the Minister. I support Housing for All because it is a meaningful and comprehensive plan that is backed up by legislation and State funding. It is the most comprehensive housing plan in the history of the State. The sum of €20 billion sounds like a lot of money because it is a lot of money. It is reflective of how big a problem we have. It is absolutely appropriate that none of us should ever forget how big the challenge is and that we all pull together to address it.

Housing for All is designed to address the two core elements of our housing emergency, namely, supply and affordability. The fastest and most sustainable way of increasing supply is to reuse the existing housing stock. Where did the Minister start? He started with the local authorities and the portion of their built housing stock that is vacant and unused. I commend the Minister on the millions of euro he has poured into our local authorities to enable them to turn around voids. I have seen the vacant properties in my constituency of Dublin Central. Not only has he put money into returning voids to residential use, he has also given money to local authorities for regeneration projects, such as those for St. Mary's Place on Dorset Street, Constitution Hill and Matt Talbot Court. Returning existing built housing stock to residential use will not only increase supply but also help to reduce our carbon footprint. The Minister has provided funding, supports, vacant housing officers, advice, guidance, regulations and, critically, vacant property grants. All of these will enable private property owners to make their properties available for use, whether as social homes or affordable homes.

Housing for All also addresses the second element of the crisis, affordability, by making use of State-owned lands. What a novel idea that we would use State-owned lands to reduce the cost of providing housing. Good on the Minister. This is the way to go and he should do more of it. The report from the Land Development Agency, LDA, this week referred to the potential for another 60,000 or 70,000 homes to be provided in this way. What are we waiting for? We should not wait another three, five or ten years to do that. I commend the Minister on the way he pushed through despite fierce opposition to the establishment of the LDA as a statutory authority and to giving it the power not just to create another register of land - how many more of those do we need? - but the power to build homes that are affordable and, for the first time in the State, the power to build affordable homes to rent. The affordable cost-rental model has been in operation for 60 years or more in Vienna, where 60% of the population live in public housing. They do so because that housing is secure, affordable and well-built. Why can we not do the same here? I commend the Minister on seeing the potential for such provision in our city and country and delivering it under Housing for All.

Housing for All is a plan that is delivering immediately for renters, would-be homeowners and those at risk of homelessness. For renters, a tax credit has been introduced, with €1,000 made available to every renter, not just every tenancy, this year. The Minister has capped rents and deposits and increased security of tenure and notice periods. Critically, as I said, he has introduced affordable cost-rental provision. He has put home ownership back into the reach of young people. In 2011, the then Government abolished affordable housing. That was a novel approach to an emerging housing crisis.

The reintroduction of the provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, is welcome. The introduction, for the first time in decades, of an affordable local authority housing model is to be welcomed and supported. In the meantime, the Minister is helping renters to buy their own home. We all recognise that the price of property has increased due to undersupply, to start with, and also the pandemic and the supply-side shortages caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Construction inflation has increased to more than 100% over the past six years. Yet people talk about property prices increasing. What are those people thinking? Do we want to build substandard properties at a lower cost or do we want people to live in homes that are safe and secure for them, their families and future generations?

The Minister is giving people their tax back through the help-to-buy scheme. A total of 37,000 people got to purchase their home by using their own taxes, which the Government has given back to them under the scheme. There have been improvements in the qualifying criteria of the help-to-buy scheme and the local authority home loans. Another welcome development is that the State is taking equity in people's homes to allow them to purchase them. It is really important that the central role of local authorities, AHBs and the LDA is recognised.

The expenditure of more than €200 million on preventing homelessness and the risk of homelessness is a reflection of how serious this issue is.We have to eliminate homelessness and I know the Minister and the Government have committed to doing so by 2030.

The measures introduced last year included the tenant in situ scheme. I know people who were renting and at risk of homelessness in Dublin City who have availed of the tenant in situscheme and now have a secure, forever home through the scheme. That has been game changing and the fact that it will be extended to people who are not on the social housing list but who are qualifying for affordable housing is to be welcomed.

I thank the Minister for the work he has done to date. He knows that more needs to be done. We are committed to supporting the Minister in doing that and in accelerating the supply and affordability of housing.