Senator Dolan will have five minutes. I will then invite the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, who will have ten minutes, to respond. Statements on housing will then wrap up, as the next Minister is waiting to come in.
Housing: Statements (Resumed)
I welcome the Minister of State. It is nice to see him in the House for what for me is the first time. We are here to speak about the Housing for All plan. I thank the Minister for his overview.
I will highlight some of the things I have seen in the Roscommon-Galway region, which is the area I represent. One of the key things has been the income threshold increase to qualify for social housing. We have seen an increase of more than 40% for County Galway, which means going from a low base of €25,000 up to €35,000. That is the income eligibility threshold for people living and working in County Galway. It includes many regional areas where we have seen a real need for this. It was well overdue. In County Roscommon we are seeing a €5,000 increase in the income threshold. The Minister spoke about the delivery of more than 11,800 social homes or local authority houses. In Ballinasloe, I welcome the near completion of more than 70 homes. This was a turnkey development purchased by Galway County Council. In County Roscommon, nearly a year and a half ago, the Minister looked at local authority housing in Roscommon town.
The tenant in situ scheme is very important. It is about local authorities having the wherewithal to purchase homes. Does the Minister of State wish to give any further comments on that scheme? My concern is Galway County Council sometimes does not have enough staff. It is the second-lowest funded council in the country so there are challenges around staffing. The staffing element of managing this scheme and the procurement aspect of it is something I would love a little more detail on.
The Minister also spoke about nearly 30,000 homes completed in 2022. If I am correct, this figure is almost the highest in more than 50 years. This is an incredible statistic considering we have just come out of the Covid pandemic but there is still such a huge hill or mountain to climb ahead of us. The help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers is very welcome and there is a lot of interest in it. Some of the local challenges I see in my region are around taking in charge. This is not part of the Minister of State's statement, but I see estates that are 14 or 15 years old where there have been challenges around the developer and the bond on an estate. Previously, local authorities had access to funds to do up estates that may not have been fully finished. I am currently dealing with two or three such estates in the area where I live. It is challenging because residents are trying to take up the burden of this.
My colleague Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the living-over-the-shop scheme. Business owners sometimes mention this to me and ask what can be done with it. There are also schemes for landlords around refurbishment costs. There are tax incentives for refurbishing above-the-shop areas.
The Minister spoke a little about rental properties. There is absolutely nowhere to rent in Ballinasloe town. A group of people who work in healthcare in that town spoke with me. They are new to our shores and to Ireland. They have been living here for a number of years, are contributing to our society and are working in our local area, but cannot find places to rent. We are really lacking in one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. I ask the Minister of State for comments on this. One of reasons for this shortage is very positive. Portiuncula University Hospital in our area has seen an increase of nearly 200 positions, from 800 two or three years ago to almost 980 now, which is fantastic. However, so many people working there, in nursing and so on, may be earning approximately €40,000 and just need somewhere to rent but it is impossible to find properties. It is about the capacity around that. How do we work on capacity for rental properties?
I welcome the Croí Cónaithe scheme and some of the changes, potentially around rental properties. I will ask about credit unions and financial institutions where people may have initial approval from local authorities. I do not know whether the Minister of State has any knowledge of this.
Can credit unions or banking institutions provide advance funding to people who have received this? The challenge is that the Croí Cónaithe grant is only paid subsequent to the work being done. That is a question that has come up for me locally. Another issue I raised previously was the online application process. This is because of the good news about the 40% rise in Galway County Council. However, the online application process is a challenge for people applying for local authority housing. There is a pilot somewhere in Dublin, maybe in Fingal. Is there a possibility to streamline that too? I will sum up by thanking the Minister of State and ask for any other information available on the local authority home loan scheme.
The Minister of State has ten minutes to respond.
I am delighted to be back in the Seanad. I was a Member previously and I value its contribution hugely. I have a relatively short time, so I want to address the points Members have raised, as distinct from the contribution from the Minister. I will provide a lot of information about what we have rolled out in our plans. We built 30,000 units last year. We propose to exceed that figure this year. We built more than 9,000 social housing units in 2021. We will shortly have final figures for the number of social housing units built last year. They will be the highest since 1975. We also have various other schemes, which I will deal with in my responses. Senator McDowell is no longer present, but he may come back in the interim.
Senator O'Reilly spoke about the Croí Cónaithe scheme and the vacant homes. We have expanded the Croí Cónaithe scheme from refurbishments to rentals as well. We have done this because we see it as a scheme that could be successful and we want to people to take it up. That will come into operation from 1 May. I will dovetail that with Senator Maria Byrne's point. She spoke about the living over-the-shop scheme. That is a very good scheme and a very good initiative. As we are now getting into the rental space, she is probably aware that if one is converting from commercial to residential, no formal planning permission is required. It is exempt, which makes a huge difference. It is something we are looking at in designing the scheme and we will take it on board. Senator Gavan made reference to the number of targets set down by each local authority. They are minimum targets. We have 1,500 and that is an additional 1,300. That is an initial target. We want the local authority to exceed that. It is in that space that we want local authorities to come back with much higher figures. As the Senator will be aware, local authorities have to respond to the Department by 31 March with an indication of the numbers they have to date, and their projected numbers. Obviously, we want to see local authorities as the first port of call for anybody if they are served with an eviction notice. I am conscious that the Senator has mentioned the figure of 2,500 people. I hope that not all of those become homeless. One is too many. If they go to local authorities as HAP or RAS tenants we want the local authorities to purchase their homes so they become tenants of the local authority. Senator Dolan made reference to the limits going up, which is a positive and something I would have pushed for before I became a Minister of State. It is something I feel strongly about. If someone is above the social housing income limit, he or she should also go to the local authority for two schemes. First, a tenant wishing to purchase his or her home should be given first opportunity to purchase it. We are looking to put that scheme in place. However, if people wish to rent we want the local authorities or the approved housing body to purchase that home and rent it back so those people become tenants of the local authority or approved housing body. We are looking to introduce that on an administrative basis from 1 April. The Minister wrote to all local authorities last Friday about these schemes. Today there was a workshop, which was a detailed meeting, with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and all of the directors of housing in the local authorities about the specific schemes and how they will operate in practice.
Why have the councils not been given extra staff to deliver that?
We have given them additional staff. The Department keeps it under constant review and I am currently embarking on a tour of all local authorities to find out exactly what is happening on the ground. The Department will take on board any additional resource requirements. We want to keep people in their homes.
I will move on. Senator Black is not present. However, she spoke about a dysfunctional market. If 13,500 small landlords have left the market in the past 12 months, we have to question why. We believe that public and private provision are needed for a proper functioning model. The State cannot do the entire rental market. We want to keep small landlords. That is why we took a fundamentally different view from Sinn Féin, but we are putting measures in place. To date, during the eviction moratorium we have provided 6,000 social units with 5,000 of those built, and more than 1,500 from voids during the same period.
Senator McDowell made reference to the area of planning laws. The planning Bill is currently being revised. It has been sent for pre-legislative scrutiny by the housing committee. They will report to us on it shortly. We will then look at bringing the final Bill before both Houses with a view to enacting it by the summer.
Senator Flynn made reference to the Traveller caravan loan scheme. That loan scheme was fully subscribed in 2022. We are currently reviewing the scheme to see what can be done with the options for the coming year.
Senator Malcolm Byrne spoke of student accommodation for the technological universities and the borrowing framework. I will take that matter up with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and ask about his intent with regard to that framework being put in place. The Senator also spoke about modular housing and modern construction methods. That is something that we are proactive on in the Department. We are working with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment too. He spoke about short-term letting. That legislation is being brought through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. My Department will examine the planning laws that will need to go with that. However, I am conscious that we need to have a functioning tourism sector too.
I have just covered Senator Maria Byrne's point about the living over the shop initiative. The housing density guidelines are going for public consultation shortly. We will look at the ways in which we can, in essence, look at more own door developments. It is something on which I would encourage people to make submissions and come through it. She spoke about the LDA and is probably aware that the Bord Gáis site on the Dock Road in Limerick City has been earmarked. It is something on which I am working with the LDA to speed up provision within Limerick. I will turn to the first home scheme, which the Senator mentioned. It is a €400 million scheme. We are looking at a total of 8,000 people who will avail of it over a five-year period. She also spoke about derelict houses. It is something I am very keen on. Each local authority now has a vacant homes officer. We want local authorities to become active in that space. It offers benefits in housing, and it offers huge benefits in terms of rejuvenation of areas. It falls under my direct remit, and is something I will take up with all local authorities. On affordable housing, I am actively working with both Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council to find ways to fast-track affordable housing schemes. The Senator mentioned one scheme in Castletroy. They are also actively looking at one in Newcastle West and other areas of the city.
Senator Keogan spoke about the area of planning bottlenecks.
I covered that in my response to Senator McDowell.
Senator Dolan spoke about the help-to-buy scheme and taking-in-charge of estates. In the past two weeks, I asked my officials to write to all the local authorities asking for a list of all housing estates that are not taken in charge. I want to get an up-to-date survey to see exactly what the position is, at which point I will consider the matter. I was proactive in asking the Department to do this. This issue is coming up.
The Senator spoke about the credit unions and the Croí Connaithe scheme. This is a matter for each individual credit union but I am conscious of it and we will look at it.
I thank all the contributors. Housing for All is a working, living document. I think everyone agrees we want to keep people out of homelessness and build more homes. That is our entire objective. We have a roadmap under Housing for All. I thank all the Senators for their contributions and I look forward to further engagement.