John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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483. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the tax and fiscal incentives to encourage additional supply which have been considered as part of his rental sector strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33466/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Rental Sector, published by my Department in December 2016, committed to the establishment of a working group in early 2017 to examine and report on the tax treatment of landlords (or rental accommodation providers), and to put forward options, where appropriate, for amendments to such treatment. This working group was set up in January 2017, is chaired by the Department of Finance and its membership consists of officials from the Tax and Economics Divisions of the Department of Finance; the Revenue Commissioners; the Housing Division of my Department; and the Residential Tenancies Board.

A public consultation was conducted in March/April 2017 and the consultation paper asked ten targeted questions which covered subjects such as mortgage interest relief, capital repayment relief, rental accommodation as a pension investment, the deductibility of various expenses, Capital Gains Tax, long-term tenancies, accidental landlords, the Rent-a-Room Scheme and vacant properties. The consultation received almost 70 written submissions from a wide range of interested parties, including individual landlords, representative bodies and charitable organisations.  

It is expected that the report of the Working Group will be presented to the Minister for Finance by the end of this month, to allow for consideration as part of the deliberations for Budget 2018.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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484. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress which has been made in the setting up of the expert group in line with the commitment in action No. 12 of the strategy for the rental sector that his Department will lead an expert group to develop a cost rental model for the Irish rental sector; when he expects it to be established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33467/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December 2016, noted that the Programme for a Partnership Government contains a commitment to develop a "cost rental" option, taking account of work already completed in this area, including by the National Economic and Social Council and others.

In line with this commitment, Action 12 of the Strategy commits my Department to lead an expert group to develop a cost rental model for the Irish rental sector.  This Group will address issues such as funding mechanisms, the need to grow the necessary institutional capacity, particularly within the AHB and not-for-profit sector (whether through mergers, new entrants or strategic partnerships), rent levels, the households to be targeted and the appropriate regulation mechanisms.

The Expert Group will assess the benefits that a larger and more developed not-for-profit segment would bring to the rental sector and the housing system, by increasing supply of rental accommodation for middle-income households and ensuring new capacity is developed and attracted into Ireland.  The Expert Group will also consider various proposals, including the proposal to establish a semi-State company to progress the cost rental model, in the course of its work.  

It is my intention to establish this Expert Group in the coming weeks and the development of a proposal regarding its membership and terms of reference is currently being prepared in my Department.  As committed in the Rental Strategy, it is envisaged that the Expert Group will report initially before the end of the year.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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485. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when he expects a completed document will be published in view of the fact that he has seen a first draft of the new national vacant housing re-use strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33468/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Pillar 5 of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is specifically focused on Utilising Existing Housing Stock, with a key objective of ensuring that the existing vacant housing stock throughout the country and across all forms of tenure, in both the public and private sectors, is used to the optimum degree possible. In this regard, Action 5.1 of Rebuilding Ireland commits to the development of a National Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy, informed by Census 2016 data.

To this end, the Housing Agency, established a working group comprising senior representatives from my Department, local authorities and from the Housing Agency itself to inform the Strategy.  My Department has received the output from the work of this Group and is presently engaging with key Departments and Agencies to consider the analysis and agree on the recommended actions, prior to publication. 

I would like to see as much ambition as possible in bringing as many viable vacant properties back into use at an early stage.  I intend, as part of the review of Rebuilding Ireland, to explore what further actions can be taken and what new ideas we can bring to bear, in close liaison with Ministerial colleagues.  If budgetary measures are needed to reinforce the ambition, this may delay the publication of the Strategy.  But this will not delay the commencement of important work at local level in gathering more accurate and up-to-date information on where vacant properties are and who owns them, so that we can facilitate the re-use of many vacant properties, particularly in our cities and towns. I will be discussing this with local authority Chief Executives when I meet them next week.

Ahead of finalisation of the Strategy, it is important to note that my Department has already introduced a number of significant measures under Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland to incentivise the increased use of vacant housing stock to help meet the needs of those in receipt of social housing assistance.  These initiatives include the Repair and Leasing Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme,  and the Housing Agency acquisitions fund.

My Department will continue to engage actively with local authorities, working together with AHBs, to maximise delivery from these schemes, particularly in relation to the Repair & Leasing Scheme referred to by the Deputy, and to progress the wider range of actions to be finalised as part of the broader Vacant House Re-use Strategy.