Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. I, too, welcome the pupils and students from County Offaly. I hope they enjoy their visit to Leinster House.

I thank the Minister of State for bringing this legislation to the House. It is important legislation that amends the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 and deals with some core features and benefits of Housing for All in terms of how housing policy has evolved and changed under this Government. It speaks particularly to the increased role of approved housing bodies in providing social homes and, for the first time ever, affordable cost rental.

It is important to note that when this House first sat, affordable cost rental did not exist as a tenure in this country. It is to the great credit of the Minister of State, the Department, the Government and all who have supported the Government not only that legislation has been brought forward to make affordable cost rental a reality, but also that people are actually living in cost-rental homes, a thing the Opposition would have had people believe would never be achieved.Great credit is due to everyone who was involved in not just progressing the legislation and the policy, but delivering affordable cost-rental homes on the ground. It has largely been the approved housing bodies that have provided affordable cost-rental homes. I appreciate that the Government, through its legislation, has created a situation to ensure all 31 local authorities now have the legislative tools and powers to deliver affordable cost rental. By placing the Land Development Agency, LDA, on a statutory footing and funding it, the LDA is also in a position to deliver affordable cost rental.

It is indicative of the innovation that is being delivered to meet people's housing needs, under Housing for All, that the Government has progressed from a situation where there was a decade of undersupply when fewer than 20,000 homes were being built to having a horizon of close to 40,000 homes by the end of this year. It is important to note that one in every three homes built under Housing for All is a social or affordable home. That is a value that is defined in Housing for All and is being delivered in reality by approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency, and local authorities.

We support the amendments. It is practical and sensible to make the registration process one that is workable and that will lead to an orderly registration of those already recognised approved housing bodies. It is appropriate and welcome that the amendments also seek to address the changes in society and how families are now composed. It builds on the previous amendments and changes the Government has made to legislation in introducing the fresh start principle, which recognises the fact that not all relationships endure indefinitely and there are always opportunities for new relationships and a fresh start. I commend the Government on introducing that principle and concept.

It is very important to define how cost-rental housing will be allocated. My final point relates to the cost-rental tenant in situscheme. It is incredibly important because I know for a fact that it is preventing hundreds of people, and families, from becoming homeless. I commend the Minister and thank him for his legislation.