I move amendment No. 24: In page 9, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “(iii) require that a dwelling specified be affordable for the specific eligible applicant nominated,”.

I move amendment No. 25: In page 9, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “(c) shall require that the dwelling specified meets any criteria for affordability as set out by the Minister or the relevant housing authority.”. I reserve the right to reintroduce amendment No. 25 on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 26: In page 9, line 41, after “person” to insert the following: “except where such an amount would bring the total amount paid for the dwelling to greater than market price”. I have some questions for the Minister of State in respect of amendment No. 27. On amendment No. 26, I am trying to address the issue of the affordable dwelling purchase arrangement. This section deals with a situation in which an arrangement is made and the differences between the amount being paid in a direct sales agree…

To clarify my point, I am suggesting that the facility should be part of the contract. Of course I am not saying the contracts should be broken. However, we should be setting the terms of the contracts that the State, through local authorities and housing bodies, is signing with housing developers in such a way that it is made very clear that we are not going to disadvantage people to the point that they will not get the market value back. We are not engaging as a company signing a contract with another company, wh…

I listened to the comments about diversity in the law and my colleague, Senator Ruane, has been pushing work in that area. It is a piece that is needed. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and commend Senator Boylan on what is a very important Bill and what has already been very consequential legislation. The existence of the Bill seems to have led to a change in policy being expedited, which will have a major impact on people's lives. This Bill falls within a set of measures in the House where the Seanad …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to indicate support for this amendment. It is really important because, if we think back to the debates we have had on housing over the last five years, we know that points often have been made on the floor about concerns, about what might happen and about unintended consequences or sometimes even forewarned consequences to specific aspects of the policies. We have seen that things have to get changed and tweaked. We have seen that loopholes can be exploited. We …

I agree with the broad thrust of the amendment. The caveat "Subject to its obligations in relation to the provision of social housing" is important because public land has a role in making affordable housing available for purchase. Also, public land has a really important role in the provision of public housing to people of all income categories. For example, publicly-owned public housing that might be cost-rental and remains in public ownership over a lifetime is another paramount concern that sits alongside what …

The fundamental problem with the open market being included is exactly as Senator Warfield has outlined, in that these houses cost any amount. There is an element of a blank cheque to this. When we talk about affordability, most people's understanding of it is we will be setting a ceiling on the price of houses and there will be houses at a price affordable to purchasers. However, what is not envisaged are situations in which local housing authorities or others have to purchase houses for €600,000 or €700,000, or h…

I will make a few very practical points. To be clear, a number of people raised whether such houses could be purchased privately but that is not necessarily the concern I spoke about. My concern reflects some of the concern from Senator Warfield and others that we are talking about an open market dwelling without a ceiling. That is the concern. It is not an open market dwelling up to a certain amount; instead it is infinite in its amount. Therefore, I reserve the right to introduce an amendment to put a ceiling on …

To be very brief, I hear a lot about the perfect being the enemy of the good. However, we must remember that there is a concept called "the better", for which we could still all aim. I would suggest that the best way for the Minister of State and others who have expressed concern in this is to assert that the problem is that one really cannot come in and ask for a blank cheque. That is the problem. To be clear, it is not a matter of the purchase of open market dwellings. I was most clear on that point in my first, …

I support the amendment. It is a sign that we see support from across the House. We are not speaking to Senator Fitzpatrick's amendment, but when we will come to it I will support the thrust of it. I have also tabled an amendment on public-public partnerships in the spirit of recognising that we are in a situation where there are other ways in which this can be done. We have heard about using different tools. I took on board many of the points that were made in the previous debate. Among the key tools are this type…

Is the Minister of State saying he might come back on Report Stage?

We might be putting our own versions on Report Stage. It is good to know that the Government will have its separate version. I am sorry to cut across.

Many of us will be putting forward amendments to the Land Development Agency Bill 2021 when it comes to the Seanad. There have been some very good and constructive suggestions in that regard, including in terms of concerns around its provisions relating to section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001. I expect we will see very positive amendments, including some that are driven by backbench Members of the parties in government who recognise the problems with the provisions. Although I have huge concerns about the L…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, to delete line 14. This amendment relates to public private partnerships as a mechanism for the delivery of affordable housing. The concern here is that history whereby there has been a very strong preference for public private partnerships in the provision of affordable dwellings. That is amendment No. 6. I have an opposition to public private partnerships but I actually have, which I prefer, a number of amendments where I add things, since we were talking about adding things. In…

I said that, yes.

Senators have made some interesting points. I take on board the valid point made by Senator Casey in respect of situations where there is no public land. I hope that the Minister of State hears the following and that we can address it on Report Stage. There are different expectations in respect of how we use public land versus the partnership element. Therefore, I take on board the fact that there are situations where there may not be public land and no partnership. I have also heard that this section on local auth…

I spoke last week about articles in the newspaper. We see local authorities now being told they should lease rather than buy. I do not want to be inaccurate but I think it might be the Heron Wood estate. I am not sure if that is correct. I understand the financial pressures of the time. The fact is that more was paid out in 20-year leases than could have been used to buy the houses. However, for a very long time, there has been no excuse for not having direct ownership and purchase agreements rather than leasing ag…

I will withdraw it, noting that others have co-signed it and may wish to reintroduce it on Report Stage, as is their prerogative.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 8, line 14, after "arrangements" to insert the following: ", where the provision of affordable dwellings or publicly owned social or cost rental housing constitutes not less than 80 per cent of such an arrangement".