Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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597. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way he can create realistic opportunities for first-time and other house buyers to gain access to the housing market in the short-term in the context of public expenditure and reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20847/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Housing remains a top priority for the Government and the Exchequer investment is evidence of this. In Budget 2021 I provided €5.2 billion to the Department of Housing, Planning and Heritage. This was an increase of €773 million on 2020 and a record level of funding. An extra €500 million was directed towards capital expenditure and will facilitate the construction of new social homes and the retrofitting of social housing stock.

In Budget 2021 €110 million was allocated for an affordability package to provide for affordable housing and cost rental schemes. Both the Serviced Sites Fund and the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund will progress the delivery of over 2,000 affordable homes on both private and public land this year and subsequent years.

Final elements of the Affordable Housing Bill are being completed and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government expects the Bill to be brought back to Government shortly. This Bill will facilitate the introduction of the Local Authority led Affordable Housing Scheme, providing homes on public land. It includes provisions to put the National Affordable Shared Equity scheme on a statutory footing, providing homes on private land and it puts Cost rental on a statutory basis.

In addition the Exchequer has committed to providing €1.25 billion of funding to the Land Development Agency. This funding is in addition to the €66 million of Exchequer funding allocated to the Agency this year and in addition to borrowings the Agency may undertake to significantly improve the utilisation of public land and increase the delivery of Affordable purchase and Cost rental units.

There is compelling international evidence that efficient capital public investment is central to long term economic wellbeing. Efficient public capital investment allows the economy to grow faster on a sustainable basis by raising productivity and supply capacity. This has an important role to play in alleviating capacity constraints that might otherwise restrict economic and social progress. In this regard my Department is also currently undertaking a review of the National Development Plan. The Plan will set out the Government's agreed view on infrastructure development to enable and sustain businesses, societies and economic growth.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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598. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he considers reform to be an integral part and necessity in the housing markets with a view to creating opportunities for first-time home buyers other than the corporate sector to gain access towards providing a home of their own; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20848/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This Government is committed to better understanding and therefore tackling the ongoing housing crisis. In June 2020 my Department requested the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) to undertake research on the following question;

What are the policy options available to facilitate the delivery of public and private housing in line with the compact growth targets set out in the National Planning Framework (NPF) and related policies in a new Programme for Government?

The work of NESC provides a toolkit which can be utilised to look at new ways of achieving this target. The research is concerned with two basic issues – first bridging the supply gap and second bridging the affordability gap. In addition the Council has included recommendations on adopting more sustainable form of urban development based on transport oriented development.

The recommendations from the NESC report will form an integral part of my Department’s ongoing work in reviewing the National Development Plan and the Councils recommendations will feed into the work of the Commission on Housing.

My Department is also supporting innovation in the construction industry in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs, including in sectors such as housing. The Building Innovation Report published by my Department sets out a range of actions to be progressed in this regard through the Construction Sector Group and its Innovation Sub-Group e.g. establishing a digital centre of excellence and Enterprise Ireland examining the possibility of a construction technology centre.