Enda Kenny
Question:1 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent work of the National Implementation Body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20756/05]
Ceisteanna — Questions.
Social Partnership Agreement.
Pat Rabbitte
Question:2 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent work of the National Implementation Body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22234/05]
Trevor Sargent
Question:3 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his speech to the ICTU conference in Belfast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22338/05]
Trevor Sargent
Question:4 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent work of the National Implementation Body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22555/05]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.
The National Implementation Body, which includes employer and trade union representatives, operates under the chairmanship of my Department. Its purpose is to oversee delivery of the industrial peace and stability provisions of the Sustaining Progress agreement.
The body has met on a number of occasions recently to assist in the resolution of industrial relations disputes in both the public and private sectors. Meetings of the body also provide opportunities for informal discussion of some of the broader issues relating to the social partnership process and the industrial relations climate generally.
I should make clear that the National Implementation Body does not seek in any way to duplicate or substitute for already well-established industrial relations machinery. The role it serves is complementary in helping to identify and overcome obstacles to effective participation in these wider processes. The body will continue to meet, as necessary, to this end.
I addressed the Biennial Conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on Thursday last. In the course of my speech, I addressed the issue of housing. One of the central issues in housing is affordability, and we have for some time been working to provide increased numbers of affordable houses under a variety of schemes, including the affordable housing initiative which we agreed with the social partners in Sustaining Progress.
While considerable progress has been made, our priority now must be accelerating delivery of affordable housing units. In this context, I announced during my speech in Belfast that we are creating a new agency, to be known as the affordable homes partnership.
The role of the AHP will be to drive and co-ordinate the delivery of affordable housing in the greater Dublin area, with particular reference to the Dublin metropolitan area. The AHP will help to accelerate the Sustaining Progress affordable housing initiative on State land, and will work closely with relevant Departments and local authorities to ensure a "whole of Government" approach to affordable housing developments.
In the first instance, the agency will be working within the existing planning and development framework. However, if additional legislative powers prove to be necessary, they will be made available. In the meantime, consideration is to be given to approaches dealing with land options and a "use it or lose it" scheme.
The Government intends to address more medium-term issues for the provision of social and affordable housing in the early autumn. This process will be informed by the outcome of the statutory housing needs assessment currently under way and the work under way by the Housing Forum in reviewing the effectiveness of the existing social and affordable housing schemes in the context of Sustaining Progress.
A copy of my address to the conference has been laid in the Oireachtas Library.
The National Implementation Body met recently to discuss the difficulties between the Department of Health and Children, the Health Service Employers' Agency and the Irish Nurses Organisation in regard to the full implementation of the health care assistants' programme. Part of the recommendations, as the Taoiseach will be aware, was the establishment of a high level group representative of the main interest groups, including An Bord Altranais, to examine the outstanding recommendations contained in a report termed the Effective Utilisation of Professional Skills of Nurses and Midwives and that such work should be finished by September 2005. Was that high level representative group set up and, if so, is it currently carrying out that analysis? Does the Taoiseach expect it will have concluded its business by September of this year? Does he consider any further action needs to be taken at this point by the National Implementation Body? Does he have information as to how many cases that body considered during the past 12 months?
In respect of the threatened strike of nurses intended to take place in June but which was averted once the pay increases of between 3.5% and 5.5% were not withheld and were paid by 1 June, does the Taoiseach consider the issue of acuity recognition in terms of the degree of pressure, stress and responsibility with which various aspects of the nursing profession have to deal should be considered under the benchmarking process?
I do not have information on the number of meetings of this body.
That is okay, the Taoiseach can forward me that information.
Since the beginning of 2004 it has met 15 or 16 times.
The Taoiseach can forward me that information.
In regard to the health care assistants' programme, the body met the management side and the INO representatives. Following those discussions, the body noted that the INO had no principal objection to the implementation of the modules of the health care assistants' programme and it recommended immediate and full co-operation with all the preparation and training arrangements. It recommended the establishment, as the Deputy mentioned, of a high level group representative of An Bord Altranais to examine the outstanding lists. This work is ongoing and will be completed by the end of September. It also noted the issue of nursing practice and delegation.
In regard to what should be included in the benchmarking process, it is a matter for individual groups to make their cases and put forward their submissions. They can do that under the benchmarking process. The issue raised by the Deputy is, to the best of my knowledge, a legitimate issue that the profession can put forward under those arrangements.
I refer to the Taoiseach's address to the congress in Belfast. Will he say something more about the new affordable homes partnership agency? Is it in place? If not, when will it be put in place? Of how many people will the agency comprise? Mr. Des Geraghty has agreed to act as chairman. What other kinds of people will be on the agency? Will the powers be vested in them to gift lands to developers in return for housing elsewhere? Has the Taoiseach any concerns as to whether there is a value for money question to be addressed regarding, say, an immensely valuable site such as Harcourt Street? How do we, as taxpayers, know that we are getting value for money? If we take Harcourt Street as an example, is everything tied up and are the "i's" dotted and the "t's" crossed in terms of what exactly is the quid pro quo for the swap, the alternative locations the developer who will benefit from getting Harcourt Street is offering, how many units can be put on them, etc.?
Has the Taoiseach any concerns about inner city regeneration and building, in the sense that it seems what we are encouraging here is the construction of more office blocks? The people working in those office blocks will be put out in the commuter belt and they will have to commute to the office blocks in the city and so on. I know there has been unconscionable delay. The then Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, tried to address some of these issues when he held that office. Is the plan well thought out to gift these valuable sites to developers in return for housing elsewhere, with all the implications for city living that are involved?
Before I go to those questions, I should make it clear that there are no gifts involved in this initiative. It is a commercial deal, a swap, with costs being put on the sale. The details have been worked out and I will go through some of them. There is nothing for nothing for anyone. Dublin City Council managed the project and professional assessments were made of what the site could be used for. The advantage in terms of the Harcourt Street analysis is that planning would be forthcoming for 30 apartments, with a commercial use for another part of the site. If this were to be done in the inner city as a private project, given all the time it takes to do these things, it would take four years at best. The largest developers will say that it takes between four and six years from the time they purchase a site to getting a likely return on some of it. I have had endless information from all the local authorities which confirms that this is case. I do not quite understand why it takes so long, but apparently that is how it works.
In this case, Durkan, the developer, won the contract out of 16 tenders. There was no shortage of applicants. Eventually there was a shortlist of three and Durkan ultimately won. It will have 140 of these units in south Dublin ready by Christmas and people will be occupying them, as well as another 52 units. For the swap of that site we will build 30 units or perhaps more. By early in the New Year, within nine months of the deal being completed a month ago, we will get 192 units. In all of this Dublin City Council is doing the project management. There is no point in another group doing it. It is best to do it that way. I can give the Deputy some details about the initiative itself. The initiative comes about from the experience gained in the past few years regarding the agreement on the 10,000 sites. We were able to get the sites but it was an exceedingly slow process to get on with matters.
The affordable homes partnership will be established as a corporate body under the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971. The reason is that it can be done immediately and we can get ahead forthwith. The establishment order for the partnership will be made shortly by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and will be circulated in the Houses of the Oireachtas. It will provide a statutory structure around which a board and support staff may be put in place immediately. The affordable homes partnership will be subject to public service corporate governance disciplines, including audit and appropriate ethics requirements. Initially the board will consist of seven members, the managers of the four Dublin local authorities and three independent members. Mr. Des Geraghty has been invited to serve as chairman and has agreed. The names of the other independent members will be announced, I hope, within the next week.
The partnership will have an experienced chief executive and a small dedicated staff comprising personnel with a proven track record, principally on secondment in the early stages. It is a question of initially seconding people with proven experience in this area, rather than going through a long interviewing process. The chief executive will be an ex officio member of the board. Arrangements have already been put in place for the appointment of the chief executive and other staff.
The affordable homes partnership will have responsibility for a range of tasks, mainly for a short-term period of three years, at least initially. It will drive and co-ordinate the delivery of all affordable housing development, that is, quality houses at a reasonable cost in the greater Dublin area. In conducting its role the partnership will pay particular attention to increasing supply within the Dublin metropolitan area, with regard to the local authorities' five year action plans on sociable and affordable housing. The partnership will co-ordinate approaches as regards the development of supporting infrastructure, such as transport, water, education and other community facilities. The approach will be to prioritise projects within existing capital envelopes in a concerted and co-ordinated way to facilitate the necessary affordable housing.
It is intended that the partnership will take responsibility, as far as practicable, for the present affordable housing system — that is the 10,000 sites on State lands in the greater Dublin area, where it is necessary that this initiative should lead to their accelerated development. The partnership will be tasked to undertake a series of measures to bring additional land for housing development, including the consideration of proposals from builders, developers or local authorities for the utilisation of lands not currently zoned for housing but which may be suitable for development.
The partnership will also publicise and communicate with the public in general on affordable housing availability and development. In fulfilling its communication role, it will work with local authorities to simplify contact by members of the public on the choices available and the tailoring of individual requirements. There are now about eight or nine different schemes.
Regarding the priority of increasing affordable housing in the Dublin metropolitan area, the partnership will be mandated to ensure that the annual target of at least 16,000 units identified for Dublin is met. As a particular requirement this will ensure that the response is aimed at addressing issues of affordability that remain a significant source of concern. In this area, the growth of commuter-based development in Dublin and surrounding counties has resulted in significant human, social and economic costs due to the deficit in affordable housing in the capital. Therefore it is important that supply contains a sufficient component within the affordable category, whether as private housing or under the affordable schemes.
In order to increase the supply of land available for affordable housing in the greater Dublin area, the affordable homes partnership, as one of its earliest tasks, will call for proposals from the holders of land that may be suitable for housing development, including land that is not currently zoned for housing, regardless of its ownership. In order to assist the progressing of development of suitable lands using existing planning mechanisms, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government intends to issue policy guidance which will reinforce the policy context in which zoning and planning decisions take account of the goal of providing additional housing in the affordable category.
The partnership will undertake an audit of their lands with local authorities with a view to the most active use of such holdings for affordable housing schemes. The principle to be used in this initiative is that the land should be located in an area where there is a need for such housing, to ensure that suitable development land is adjacent to existing developments and capable of integration with such settlements — community facilities, schools, public transport — and the land, ideally, should be capable of being built upon within a short timescale. It should be serviced or serviceable.
Value for money will be based on the final unit costs of housing, including any servicing, having regard to specified quality and timescales of delivery. I have quite an amount of detail on swaps. Perhaps I will send Deputy Rabbitte a memorandum on that area. On the basis that everyone believes the Harcourt Street project is a great success — I hope it will be and something does not happen — a second phase will begin on Harcourt Street because only a small area was tested in the pilot project.
Land at Gormanston, Model Farm in Cork, Athenry, Magee Barracks and Backweston is also being put on the market to see what it can generate. Most of these sites are not serviceable and it will take a considerable amount of time for the State to make them serviceable. In this way, it is hoped we will get serviceable sites either built or about to be built, rather than stretching out the process until 2010 which would be the case without a swap. We will probably not get the same interest — I hope we do — or value as for the Harcourt Street site where we are getting 190 apartments for a relatively small site. At least the other sites would speed up the process but, again, it would have to be project managed by local authorities, instead of the State also getting involved. It is worth making this effort to have the land developed because the other way is painfully slow.
The issue which interests me in swapping sites and the reason I went with this approach, although I can always see the dangers in these kinds of things, is that the affordable selling price for the units after the swap involving the Harcourt Street site will be between €150,000 and €170,000, an average discount of 33% of the market value. For the citizen, our constituents, this is a considerable reduction. In this case, the individual on the list is given good quality housing in a good area for a very attractive price.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I would appreciate getting the information he promised to allow me to examine the matter in more detail. To help me understand the concept, does the Taoiseach have a figure on file for the value of the Harcourt Street site? I understand he indicated that the agency is charged with delivery of the entire 10,000 units and that, whereas other sites in the ownership of the State will be put out to tender, the agency will not be prevented from developing some sites in its possession if it wishes to go through the procedure and deliver houses itself. Is that correct?
The value for money analysis of the Harcourt Street site was carried out as part of an open and transparent procurement process conducted by Dublin City Council, as the project manager for the site. The site was put out to tender and 16 bids were received and evaluated against predetermined criteria. A shortlist of three bids was examined and Durkan Homes was identified as the preferred bidder. We are receiving a net consideration for the site of €15.6 million, which is in excess of €2.6 million above its pre-sale valuation of €13 million. This equates to €39 million per acre, a frightening figure but that is how the world is today. It reflects the top of the range of sale prices achieved in the city centre in recent years. It is extraordinary stuff.
Are the 190 units in south Dublin almost complete?
I have been assured that 140 of the units will be occupied before Christmas and the other 52 will be occupied within a period of nine months. That is the benefit.
I call Deputy Sargent.
I wish to make one further point in case I cause confusion. The partnership will look after any of the 10,000 sites located within the Dublin metropolitan area. Any sites outside the area will be looked after elsewhere. The partnership wants to keep the system small by having a small board and staff, using local authority structures and seconding staff rather than getting into the interview process and trying to make a big impact.
Another issue of interest has not yet emerged and Deputy Rabbitte's question offers an opportunity to raise it. Everybody gives out that there is a lot of land around Dublin, often lying derelict or used for anti-social behaviour, which is sometimes owned by the local authority and sometimes owned by God knows who. I am sure Deputy Rabbitte will have had the same experience of this in his constituency as I have had in mine. If a developer or local authority believes it could put this land, which is not zoned, into use, it could propose a project to the partnership. The partnership, within the existing structures, would then try to fast-track the development of the land purely for affordable initiatives, taking into account the needs of local residents. I have made the point to the partnership that if it were to try to make it attractive for local residents to get rid of what is probably an eyesore by guaranteeing some local participation in the affordable housing allocation, such projects could become quite attractive operations. If local residents believe it is house building for the general housing pool, they will probably not find it attractive. It will be interesting to see what emerges in regard to this aspect of the plan which has not had much of an airing, although it should have been aired because if many of the nuisance sites could be brought to the agency and planning and zoning were quickly secured, not alone could one get more affordable housing but one would also get rid of many of the nuisance sites.
I will ask two questions relating to the Taoiseach's speech to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Belfast. ICTU has set out a number of priorities in advance of the new round of partnership talks. Top of its list is tackling the widening gap between the low and high paid, which is not new. Given the growth in this gap under Governments led by the Taoiseach, does he foresee a time when we will be able to turn around this trend and effectively reduce the gap to bring about some equity?
My second question is related to the affordable homes partnership plan. I assume the creation of the partnership is an acknowledgement by the Taoiseach of the failure to quickly meet the commitment to build 10,000 social housing units. It is clear the plan is a good deal for developers who will no doubt be happy to get their hands on lucrative land in return for building what are known as affordable homes. I understand the affordable homes in question will be sold at 20% below market price, whereas the Taoiseach indicated to Deputy Rabbitte that they will be sold at 33% below market price. Will he clarify the difference?
What criteria will govern the selection of the lucky developers who will be charged with taking responsibility for delivery of the partnership project? Will selection be determined simply by the price given to the State or will the criteria include obligations on the developers to pay subcontractors they engage promptly and operate to a set of standards laid down by the Government? Will the Taoiseach outline what such criteria might be, given the experience of a significant number of subcontractors who protested outside the House yesterday, having been effectively stung for hundreds of thousands of euro owed to them by contractors working in the pay of local authorities? I understand the Taoiseach is aware of the matter. What criteria are in place to prevent a recurrence of this type of serious non-payment of Bills?
As always, the Deputy has tried to turn the issue around by saying the partnership offers good value to the developer when everybody else believes it offers good value to the individuals concerned, as I have outlined. The argument as to whether tax reliefs should be continued is fair. The Minister for Finance is reviewing these.
The analysis the Deputy has come to is that approximately 300,000 people have homes outside the country. I believe that he has come to this analysis himself. I am not going to tell people not to have a second home. I am not ideologically opposed to people having a second home. It is difficult enough to live in one.
The Taoiseach has none in Kerry.
They are good for hanging baskets.
I do not know why people want seven or eight homes if they make money on them. If I had a house down in Mayo, I would make no apologies for it.
Does he have one in a place called An Daingean?
This argument emerges at this time of the year. However, many of the villages on the western seaboard are very happy to see people coming from the greater Dublin area for the summer season.
They are not happy.
They are happy.
They are not because it is putting up the cost of housing for many of them.
The only lift they get in the entire year is the nine to ten weeks when people visit during the summer.
Does this mean we are only following assumption?
Recently the President of Serbia and Montenegro informed me that the leading investors in property in his state are Irish people. Do we have to send them to Serbia and Montenegro rather than the west for a summer house?
That has nothing to do with the cost of housing in Galway.
There are two Galway men sitting behind the Taoiseach. I can assure him that——
We love visitors every day.
——there are many families in Galway concerned about property prices.
Allow the Taoiseach to conclude.
I never make personal remarks but Deputy Ó Caoláin's party is not too bad for having second homes.
Country hideaways.
Safe houses.
Tax them, that is what we are saying.
Allow the Taoiseach without interruption.
What is wrong if people can afford a large or a small second house in a country area and go there with their children for long weekends and summer holidays?
The social welfare system must be good.