Declaration of a Housing Emergency: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

The following motion was moved by Deputy Eoin Ó Broin on Tuesday, 22 November 2022:

That Dáil Éireann:

acknowledges that Fine Gael supported by Fianna Fáil or vice versa have held the Ministerial portfolio for Housing since 2016;

notes that:

— the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party coalition Government has been in office for two and a half years;

— during this time the Government's housing policies have failed, and the housing crisis has deepened;

— the current Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD, believes that housing is not in a state of emergency;

— rents and house prices have passed their Celtic Tiger peak and are still rising;

— homelessness is at levels never seen before, with child homelessness up by 51 per cent since April 2021;

— an entire generation of people are locked out of secure and affordable homes;

— waiting lists for social housing are too long, and eligibility thresholds remain too low;

— the student accommodation crisis is forcing some students out of third-level education;

— the Traveller Community, migrants, people with disabilities and older people continue to experience discrimination in the housing system;

— those seeking international protection continue to live in inadequate accommodation, while thousands of people granted asylum are unable to find a pathway out of Direct Provision; and

— in response to the deepening housing crisis, Raise the Roof, the trade union and civil society-led housing campaign, has called a major rally for housing in Dublin on 26th November; and

agrees to:

— declare a housing emergency; and

— call on people to support the 26th November Raise the Roof rally for housing in Dublin.

Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes that:

— the Housing for All: A New Housing Plan for Ireland, the Government's housing plan, is working, and supply, which is key to improving our housing system, is increasing, and to the end of September over 55,000 homes were either commenced (27,417) or completed (27,773), the number of completions in the first three quarters of 2022 was greater than the total for 2021 or any full year since the Central Statistics Office completions series began;

— a record €4.5 billion in State housing investment will be made available in 2023, and this will underpin the ambitious Housing for All plan and deliver the largest State home building programme ever, with 9,100 direct build social homes and 5,500 affordable homes; and €1.3 billion will be spent on affordability measures, supporting homeownership in 2023; and

— in spite of shutdowns in construction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, economic headwinds and supply chain issues due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022 will see the highest overall housing delivery, highest social housing delivery, highest affordable housing delivery, highest Cost Rental delivery and highest number of first-time buyers in over a decade;

further notes that, with regard to:

— the delivery of social housing:

— the 2021 Summary of Social Housing Assessments showed that there was a 4.3 per cent decrease in the number of households assessed as being qualified for, and in need of, social housing support in 2020 and there has been a 35.3 per cent decrease in the social housing waiting list since 2016, when the first annual assessment was conducted;

— despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, over 23,300 households had their housing needs met in 2021, when 9,183 social homes were provided even though most residential construction was halted for a 13-week period from January to April;

— this year will see the largest social housing delivery in generations; and

— in addition, at the end of Q2 this year, over 77,500 household tenancies were supported under the Housing Assistance Payment and the Rental Accommodation Scheme;

— income eligibility for social housing:

— the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has recently approved changes to the social housing income eligibility bands for five local authorities – Carlow, Clare, Galway County, Laois and Westmeath – with the baseline income threshold for these areas increasing from €25,000 to €30,000, these changes came into effect from 1st October, 2022; and

— the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has subsequently further approved an additional nationwide €5,000 increase in all Social Housing income bands with effect from 1st January, 2023;

— affordable housing delivery:

— its continued roll-out is key to improving our housing system, and acknowledges that 2022 is the first full year of affordable housing delivery in a generation;

— Cost Rental housing – a new form of State-backed secure, long-term rental tenure through which rents are aimed at a minimum of 25 per cent below open market rates – is being delivered at scale, and that hundreds of Cost Rental homes are now tenanted;

— the Government's new First Home Shared Equity Scheme, which was introduced in July, is proving very successful, with already almost 700 applications approved for first-time buyers;

— the Government's new Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund Scheme, a vacant or derelict property grant of up to €50,000, has received over 400 applications to date, and the scheme has been extended to cover city centre and rural areas this month;

— local authority-provided affordable purchase schemes are also being delivered, enabling people to purchase homes at discounted rates in return for the local authority holding equity in the home; and

— the Local Authority Home Loan scheme, for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants on low or modest incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial lenders, has been expanded;

— tackling supply and affordability issues in the rental market:

— the Government has strengthened renters' rights and controls on rent increases, and in Budget 2023 the Government is making a €500 credit available to every renter, backdated to 2022;

— tenancy protections have been enhanced, including for those in student specific accommodation, under a number of recent Rental Bills providing stronger rent controls and security of tenure:

— from 11th December, 2021, a cap of two per cent per annum pro rata applies to rent increases in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) when the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices inflation rate is higher; rent reviews outside of RPZs can, until 2025, occur no more frequently than bi-annually; and this provides rent certainty for tenants outside of RPZs for a minimum two-year period at a time;

— since August 2021, the total amount that a tenant is required to pay to a landlord by way of a deposit or an advance rent payment to secure a tenancy has been restricted (i.e. any deposit cannot exceed one month's rent and any advance rent payment cannot exceed one month's rent), therefore, a restriction of the equivalent of one month's rent is also placed on the amount that a tenant is obliged to pay as a regular advance rent payment to a landlord during a tenancy; and

— to enhance security of tenure for tenants, all new tenancies created on or after 11th June, 2022 will become tenancies of unlimited duration once the tenancy has lasted more than six months and no valid Notice of Termination has been served on the tenant;

— furthermore, from 6th July, 2022:

— extended notice periods, by approximately two months, are to be given to tenants when serving a Notice of Termination (where there has been no breach of tenant obligations) in tenancies of less than three years duration; and

— the period from the date of receipt of a 'no fault' Notice of Termination for a tenant to submit a dispute to the Residential Tenancies Board for resolution is increased from 28 days to 90 days; and

— the Government intends to commission a comprehensive review of the private rental sector to take account the significant regulatory changes over the past several years, some of which is detailed above; and the review, which will be complete by the end of June 2023, will ensure that our housing system provides an efficient, affordable, safe and secure framework for both landlords and tenants; and

— student accommodation:

— in October, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science updated the Cabinet Committee on Housing and received support on initial plans for policy development for the provision of student accommodation, and the Minister and his Department are actively progressing a new policy that bridges the challenging gap between the viability of delivering purpose-built student accommodation and subsequent rental affordability for students; and

— this will include, for the first time, the State assisting with the cost of building student accommodation beds and unlocking projects which have been postponed in return for affordable rents for target students; and detailed work is currently being advanced with a section dedicated to student accommodation having been established in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science;

acknowledges that the increase in homelessness seen in recent months is a serious concern for Government, and this is being actively addressed:

— by legislating for a temporary measure that protects renters who are facing homelessness by deferring any 'no fault' tenancy terminations from taking place this winter; and while this emergency measure is necessary and provides assistance in the short-term, the long-term answer to these accommodation challenges remains an increased and sustainable supply of new homes, such as through the State-led expanded social and affordable housing programmes operating under the Housing for All strategy; and

— Budget 2023 provides funding of over €215 million, an increase of 10 per cent on last year, for the delivery of homeless prevention measures, emergency accommodation and to support households to successfully exit homelessness;

the Government is progressing a number of specific actions to address the housing needs of these households and those at risk of becoming homeless, through a wide range of support programmes, including:

— a new voids programme for 2022 with increased funding;

— reinstating delegated sanction to allow local authorities to pursue appropriate acquisitions;

— modifications to the Repair and Leasing Scheme, to open up more opportunities to include conversion of commercial units to residential, increasing the number of 'Housing First' tenancies for those entrenched in homelessness;

— expanding outreach services;

— the National Homeless Action Committee has been established, which ensures the continued coherence and coordination of homeless related services, policies and actions; the new Housing First National Implementation Plan 2022-2026 has also been published and expands Housing First targets, with over 1,300 new Housing First tenancies to be introduced over the next five years;

— Ireland has signed the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, committing to working towards the ending of homelessness by 2030;

— the Youth Homelessness Strategy 2023-2025 was published by Minister O'Brien on 9th November, 2022; and

— in the immediate term, in Dublin, there are over 400 additional beds due to come on stream through a combination of new short-term leasing agreements, the opening of a new family facility and the re-opening of a facility following temporary closure for essential works; and over half of these additional beds will be operational in the coming weeks, the remainder in the coming months;

furthermore, acknowledges that, with regard to:

— supporting the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation:

— capital funding was fully drawn-down by local authorities in the past two years, amounting to €14.5 million in 2020, and €15.5 million in 2021, with the capital funding for 2022 amounting to €18 million for Traveller-specific accommodation, ensuring that funding is on a sustainable path for the provision of timely accommodation to meet the needs of Traveller families and funding will increase further in 2023 to €20 million; and

— a mid-term review of local authority Traveller Accommodation Programmes 2019 to 2024 is currently being undertaken by local authorities, and this Government, working with the local authorities, will continue on its objective of delivering Traveller-specific accommodation, now within the framework of Housing for All strategy and ensuring that a range of accommodation options are available;

— housing supports for disabled and older people:

— the new National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027, commits to ensuring that affordable, quality housing with an appropriate mix of housing design types provided within social housing, including universally designed units, is available to everyone in Irish society, including those with disabilities and older people;

— an implementation plan for the strategy will be published by year end to include actions for three Departments and a number of agencies; and a comprehensive eight-month consultation period informed the development of the strategy and identified the key policy and practical steps that need to be in place to achieve its aims; and

— disabled and older people are entitled to all of the housing supports and have access to all schemes in like manner with other citizens; returns from local authorities indicate an increase year-on-year in allocations of social housing to households with disability as a primary basis of need; and in 2016 there were 1,179 such households accommodated increasing to 2,093 households in 2020 representing 11 per cent of total allocations for 2020, while data for 2021 is currently being compiled by the Housing Agency; and

— planning:

— the first comprehensive Planning Consolidation Bill in a quarter of a century will be brought to Government in December and will streamline, simplify and accelerate planning;

— innovative new Kenny report style powers will be introduced in a new Planning Bill in December; and

— the overhaul and resourcing of An Bord Pleanála will be legislated for in the coming weeks; and

- the Government remains fully committed to the implementation of Housing for All strategy and achieving the targets set out within, and the Housing for All action plan update,

published on 2nd November, allows the Government to redouble its efforts on priority measures to activate and accelerate the delivery of housing supply."

-(Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding declaring a housing emergency. On Tuesday, 22 November 2022, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.

The Dáil divided by electronic means.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Under Standing Order 83(3)(b) I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means.

Amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 72; Níl, 63; Staon, 0.

Tá

Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Flaherty, Joe.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Hourigan, Neasa.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McGrath, Michael.
McGuinness, John.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.
Varadkar, Leo.

Níl

Bacik, Ivana.
Barry, Mick.
Berry, Cathal.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Cairns, Holly.
Canney, Seán.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Joan.
Collins, Michael.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Pa.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Farrell, Mairéad.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Gannon, Gary.
Gould, Thomas.
Guirke, Johnny.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Lowry, Michael.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McNamara, Michael.
Mitchell, Denise.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
Naughten, Denis.
Nolan, Carol.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Pringle, Thomas.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Shanahan, Matt.
Sherlock, Sean.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Bríd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Whitmore, Jennifer.
Wynne, Violet-Anne.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Brendan Griffin and Jack Chambers; Níl, Deputies Denise Mitchell and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

Amendment declared carried.

Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 72; Níl, 61; Staon, 0.

Tá

Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Flaherty, Joe.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Hourigan, Neasa.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McGrath, Michael.
McGuinness, John.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.

Níl

Bacik, Ivana.
Barry, Mick.
Berry, Cathal.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Cairns, Holly.
Canney, Seán.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Joan.
Collins, Michael.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Pa.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Farrell, Mairéad.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Gannon, Gary.
Gould, Thomas.
Guirke, Johnny.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
Mitchell, Denise.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
Naughten, Denis.
Nolan, Carol.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Pringle, Thomas.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Shanahan, Matt.
Sherlock, Sean.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Bríd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Whitmore, Jennifer.
Wynne, Violet-Anne.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Jack Chambers and Brendan Griffin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.

Question declared carried.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 11.20 p.m. go dtí 9 a.m., Déardaoin, an 24 Samhain 2022.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.20 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Thursday, 24 November 2022.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 23 Nov 2022