Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Oct 2024

Vol. 1060 No. 3

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Housing Provision

Bernard Durkan

Question:

53. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the extent to which he is availing of modern housing production methods to facilitate the provision of additional supply of homes to the market in order to address the ever increasing demand arising from termination of tenancies or other factors which might make it difficult, or even impossible, for families to provide housing by other means, such as purchase or rental through local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42873/24]

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

This question seeks to ascertain, for people who find themselves with warnings to exit their existing tenancies and have little or no time to make alternative arrangements, the extent to which private service sites might be utilised.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Alan Dillon)

I thank Deputy Durkan. Modern methods of construction have been identified as a key measure to address the different housing needs in Ireland and methods to support the development of MMC in Ireland are set out in Housing for All plan. MMC is the term used to describe a range of manufacturing and innovative construction alternatives to traditional construction, including modular construction. MMC has the potential to boost productivity, increase efficiency and improve sustainability in the construction sector. The co-ordination of initiatives to promote MMC adoption is being led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, through the interdepartmental MMC leadership and integration group. These initiatives include the accelerated social housing delivery programme; the roadmap for increased adoption of MMC in public housing; the Construct Innovate technology centre, the national demonstration park for MMC; the build digital project; the built to innovate initiative; the development of standardised approaches to the design of housing with the aim of reducing the cost of construction and supporting MMC adoption; as well as training for industry and public sector professionals. MMC is central to the Government’s accelerated social housing delivery programme. This programme is being led by my Department and will see the delivery by 13 local authorities of at least 1,500 social homes using modern methods of construction across approximately 36 sites. It is intended to expand the use of the design and build procurement approach to enable greater use of MMC in both social and affordable housing delivery.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I had in mind the utilisation of modern construction methods to speed up, in the first case, the provision of houses, and the provision of housing for people who may find themselves, through no fault of their own, without a home and have no option except to consider making themselves homeless by leaving the house they are in, in which case they will not be considered by the local authorities, at the same time relying on previous methods and experiences of the private sites schemes to put affordable houses and local authority houses on those sites within the reach of people who are in that income category. We all did this over the years in our various local authorities but it either has not been used in recent times or used with great difficulty in any case it has been used. It is a question of reintroducing the incentives that were there and ensuring they work at this given time.

Deputy Alan Dillon

I thank Deputy Durkan. To reinforce the significance of the accelerated social housing delivery programme, as I said previously we will see up to 1,500 new social homes commence during 2023 and 2024 utilising existing MMC design and build systems. Indeed, the 26 sites which received funding as part of the accelerated social housing delivery programme will see the delivery by 13 local authorities of at least 1,500 social homes and this is being led through our Department. That includes a site in Maynooth in the Deputy's own constituency in County Kildare, which will see 65 units commencing on site in quarter 2 of 2024. Again, the allocation of additional resources through the Housing Agency is being provided to support local authorities in delivering on their specific role in supporting the increased use of MMC. We see it as being more cost-effective, quicker to assemble, and we want to see more local authorities utilising this as an accelerated method. Certainly, it is the way forward.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I thank the Minister. I accept that the Government's plan for housing is working but unfortunately it is working too slowly. It is not working fast enough to be able to feed the market that is ever growing. That market is caused by, in some cases, tenancies being terminated by landlords for whatever reason. There is no blame on anybody but the tenants have been given a deadline. I am dealing at the moment with about 50 such cases in my constituency. Presently these people are overholding. They have nowhere else to go. It is either that, go out on the road or pay massive rents that they have no chance whatsoever of paying. Their incomes are too high to qualify for a local authority house; their incomes are too low to feature, insofar as a loan is concerned, in the ordinary way and the prospects for them are not great. Will a special effort be made to bring them into the arena whereby they can see for themselves how they can resolve their housing problem within a reasonable time?

Deputy Alan Dillon

Again, I thank the Deputy. We are making every effort possible to continue the momentum in boosting supply, not just in social but in the affordable housing space. We are supporting local authorities in how they can further deliver on their housing targets. We are increasing capacity within local authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects. That is key on the ground, not just with local authorities but through approved housing bodies, though the LDA and with many other levers at our disposal. Any fair analysis would say we actually are making progress. We have seen record social housing delivery targets compared with the past two decades. Certainly, we want to continue in that regard. Every method we can possibly use in an accelerator programme will be done. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will be bringing the revised housing targets forward in the coming weeks. That will raise our level of ambition to continue to deliver all across this country.