Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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613. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to support low-income families with their urgent housing needs (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25878/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Social housing is a key priority for Government, as evidenced by the additional €2.2 billion in funding announced in Budget 2015 and the publication of the Social Housing Strategy 2020 in November 2014. The targeted social housing provision of over 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme, will address the needs of the 90,000 households on the housing waiting list in full, with flexibility to meet potential future demand. The Strategy also includes a commitment to increase the regularity of the summary of social housing assessments by undertaking it on annual basis from 2016 onwards, which will support the continuous monitoring of social housing delivery against need. The Social Housing Strategy 2020 is available on my Department’s website at the following link:.

On 1 April 2015, I announced provisional funding allocations totalling €1.5 billion for all local authorities, to meet an ambitious delivery target of 22,883 social housing units out to 2017.  On 5 May 2015, I announced funding of €312 million for the first tranche of the local authority direct-build social housing programme under the Strategy. This announcement covers some 100 separate housing projects, providing 1,700 units across all 31 local authorities, the details of which are available on my Department’s website at the following link: .

Further announcements of new unit delivery under the Capital Assistance Scheme and the broader social housing investment programmes will be made in the coming weeks and months.

In addition, on 28May 2015 I announced over €91 million worth of housing investment to be used across a range of housing schemes to make more social housing available through returning vacant units back to use and to improve housing for people with disabilities, as well as retrofitting homes to improve energy efficiency.

With regard to rising rents, a shortage of supply is at the heart of the issue and the Government is addressing this on a number of fronts. Construction 2020: A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector, published last year, is aimed at addressing issues in the property and construction sectors and ensuring that any bottlenecks that might impede the sector in meeting residential and non-residential demand are addressed. Construction 2020 also commits to identifying and implementing further improvements to the planning system to facilitate appropriate development.

A key action for my Department under Construction 2020 is the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015 which was published earlier this month. The Bill focuses on housing supply-related issues with a view to facilitating increased activity in the housing construction sector, particularly in the Dublin area where the housing supply shortage is particularly acute. It provides for changes in development contributions and in relation to the provision of housing under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000. In addition, the Bill provides for the introduction of a vacant site levy.

The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) report Ireland’s Rental Sector: Pathways to Secure Occupancy and Affordable Supply, which was published last month, is a welcome and timely contribution to the debate around the rental sector. The report calls for more secure occupancy for tenants, including greater rent certainty as well as measures to increase the supply of rental housing. The recommendations put forward in this report will be considered carefully in the context of framing any measures in relation to the rental market. My overriding objective in relation to rents is to achieve stability and sustainability in the market for the benefit of tenants, landlords and society as a whole.