Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. It is nice to see him in the House for what for me is the first time. We are here to speak about the Housing for All plan. I thank the Minister for his overview.

I will highlight some of the things I have seen in the Roscommon-Galway region, which is the area I represent. One of the key things has been the income threshold increase to qualify for social housing. We have seen an increase of more than 40% for County Galway, which means going from a low base of €25,000 up to €35,000. That is the income eligibility threshold for people living and working in County Galway. It includes many regional areas where we have seen a real need for this. It was well overdue. In County Roscommon we are seeing a €5,000 increase in the income threshold. The Minister spoke about the delivery of more than 11,800 social homes or local authority houses. In Ballinasloe, I welcome the near completion of more than 70 homes. This was a turnkey development purchased by Galway County Council. In County Roscommon, nearly a year and a half ago, the Minister looked at local authority housing in Roscommon town.

The tenant in situscheme is very important. It is about local authorities having the wherewithal to purchase homes. Does the Minister of State wish to give any further comments on that scheme? My concern is Galway County Council sometimes does not have enough staff. It is the second-lowest funded council in the country so there are challenges around staffing. The staffing element of managing this scheme and the procurement aspect of it is something I would love a little more detail on.

The Minister also spoke about nearly 30,000 homes completed in 2022. If I am correct, this figure is almost the highest in more than 50 years. This is an incredible statistic considering we have just come out of the Covid pandemic but there is still such a huge hill or mountain to climb ahead of us. The help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers is very welcome and there is a lot of interest in it. Some of the local challenges I see in my region are around taking in charge. This is not part of the Minister of State's statement, but I see estates that are 14 or 15 years old where there have been challenges around the developer and the bond on an estate. Previously, local authorities had access to funds to do up estates that may not have been fully finished. I am currently dealing with two or three such estates in the area where I live. It is challenging because residents are trying to take up the burden of this.

My colleague Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the living-over-the-shop scheme. Business owners sometimes mention this to me and ask what can be done with it. There are also schemes for landlords around refurbishment costs. There are tax incentives for refurbishing above-the-shop areas.

The Minister spoke a little about rental properties. There is absolutely nowhere to rent in Ballinasloe town. A group of people who work in healthcare in that town spoke with me. They are new to our shores and to Ireland. They have been living here for a number of years, are contributing to our society and are working in our local area, but cannot find places to rent. We are really lacking in one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. I ask the Minister of State for comments on this. One of reasons for this shortage is very positive. Portiuncula University Hospital in our area has seen an increase of nearly 200 positions, from 800 two or three years ago to almost 980 now, which is fantastic. However, so many people working there, in nursing and so on, may be earning approximately €40,000 and just need somewhere to rent but it is impossible to find properties. It is about the capacity around that. How do we work on capacity for rental properties?

I welcome the Croí Cónaithe scheme and some of the changes, potentially around rental properties. I will ask about credit unions and financial institutions where people may have initial approval from local authorities. I do not know whether the Minister of State has any knowledge of this.Can credit unions or banking institutions provide advance funding to people who have received this? The challenge is that the Croí Cónaithe grant is only paid subsequent to the work being done. That is a question that has come up for me locally. Another issue I raised previously was the online application process. This is because of the good news about the 40% rise in Galway County Council. However, the online application process is a challenge for people applying for local authority housing. There is a pilot somewhere in Dublin, maybe in Fingal. Is there a possibility to streamline that too? I will sum up by thanking the Minister of State and ask for any other information available on the local authority home loan scheme.