The Deputy will be aware that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has been keen to redress the imbalance in terms of direct build in our housing. That can be seen on the ground in Tipperary. There has been a 32% reduction in the housing list in the county in recent years. A total of 526 new homes have been built since 2016, including 274 social, 14 under the Part V process and 238 which have been brought back into use from vacancy. The Minister has brought huge impetus in the last year to driving local authorities to bri…

We should go by facts in this House.

Will the Deputy will let me finish? I did not interrupt him. I would appreciate it if he could give me a bit of time. In the first instance, there has been an increase of 300% in housing supply since 2012. The Government has also delivered 34,000 new social homes, homes that are right for our citizens, since 2016. That represents a 300% increase in supply. While I accept that there are frustrations, there is a record budget within the Department, totalling €3.3 billion, to deliver social and affordable housing. As …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 20 together. Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed accord…

I acknowledge that Deputy Carey has consistently raised this issue over the past number of months. It is important and, like him, I can see vulnerable people coming into clinics who need support and assistance with social housing. The review is ongoing. The review will be done in the context of the Affordable Housing Bill and its impact. Current schemes include the direct build scheme, the shared equity scheme, and increasing Part V numbers to 20% for social and affordable housing. The Land Development Agency will …

I acknowledge what Deputy Carey said. He is right that a key to unlocking this issue is income disregards. He pointed out the case of a family that he has been dealing with. Local authorities have discretion regarding payments that are one-off or temporary in nature and can disregard them. There is potentially more space for such discretion because vulnerable people in receipt of income supports such as the working family payment currently exceed the amounts in the housing means test. We will look at that. It shoul…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 50 together. I have had no direct interaction with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recently in respect of specific issues related to vacant housing. Officials of my Department are, however, in ongoing contact with local authorities on issues related to vacant housing, providing advice and guidance where appropriate. A series of briefing sessions for vacant home officers was organised between March and June 2020 and there is ongoing e…

I thank Deputy Carroll MacNeill for her contribution. A vacant homes pilot project took place involving six local authority areas, with two visual inspections six months apart. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, 1,177 properties were inspected and 21 were deemed to be in long-term dereliction in that functional area following the second inspection. We need to review our plans on vacant properties and are doing so in the context of Housing for All. The Deputy is right to point to the potential to unlock property along a 1.2…

This is a very important issue, as the Deputies have just highlighted. In terms of towns first, towards the end of the year we will have firm Government proposals for unlocking some of those sites that are targeted in the national planning framework and bringing them back into use. We must also consider sites, houses and shops on main streets that can be converted through the various schemes which are currently being reviewed by the Minister in the context of Housing for All. It is also important to acknowledge tha…

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I know the frustrations among many Deputies. As Deputy Pringle leaves, I note he mentioned Toronto as an example of somewhere we could take ideas from. Obviously, he has not researched the current state of play in Toronto and the housing crisis that is there. I point out also that there is absolutely no inbuilt snobbery whatsoever in the way this Government approaches this problem. We are trying to provide solutions. We are doing our best, day in and day out, to com…

I assure the Deputies that I am keen to listen to their views and to take as many of them on board as is possible. It is about coming up with good ideas, unlike the last contribution which sought to categorise individuals. Whichever political party Deputies are members of, I know most of them try to do their best. I am certainly not a landlord. I have a small three-bedroom semi-detached house in Mullingar with my family. Contributions like that are unhelpful to this debate and are most frustrating. We meet these ve…

This is a straightforward amendment for a minor wording omission. It adds the word “the” into a sentence.

It is noted and has been mentioned in regards to Senator Moynihan in terms of the Committee Stage debate. It has gone from 30 years to 40 years. We have taken into account the views of Senators and the House and I hope this creates a good balance.

This group consists of Government amendment No. 15 and a series of amendments from Senators Higgins, Ruane and Black. Amendments Nos. 15 to 17, inclusive, deal with management costs for cost-rental homes so I will address this point before going on to address amendment No. 18, which concerns adaptation and retrofitting. It is certainly not the intention that excessive management costs will be countenanced as part of cost-rental. Through the designation process, as set out in the Bill, all applications will be close…

May I reply?

Senator Higgins made a valid point concerning those with disabilities. We are working on an update in the Department. Our new strategy for people with disabilities will be incorporated into the Housing for All plan. The model will be reviewed, but we want to prove that it works in the first instance, which is a significant consideration. There have been 1,600 submissions to the new disabilities strategy, one quarter of which have come from people with lived experiences. It is within my remit and I am keen to progre…

I will respond when Senators are finished.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I will now address amendment No. 19 as tabled by Senators Boyhan, Keogan and Norris, amendment No. 20 as tabled by Senators Higgins, Ruane and Black, together with amendment No. 22 as tabled by Senators Warfield, Boylan and others. Following on from the discussion on these points on Committee Stage, I certainly understand the positive intentions behind these amendments, which aim to limit rents to a certain proportion of an income, be that 30%, 33% or 35%, of a tenant's net monthly …

I thank Senator Boyhan for his intervention. I am at pains to point out that I value what Senators say in the Chamber, and we have accepted amendments through this process when Senators have convinced us that the amendments they put forward were required. We must strike a balance between what we do and advice, but I assure Senators that everything they say, as we review this legislation, is taken into account.

I will allow whoever else wants to speak to contribute first.