Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 October 2017
10. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if a project (details supplied) in Dublin 8 will be funded directly through Exchequer revenue rather than a private sector-led land initiative. [45348/17]
View answerThe Minister of State knows Sinn Féin's strong concerns about the funding model that is being used for the land initiatives at O'Devaney Gardens and St. Michael's Estate. Given the long history of failed and collapsed regeneration projects at this location and in light of the very active involvement of the local community, will the Minister of State not consider taking this out of the funding model of the land initiatives and, instead, directly fund a council-led, mixed-tenure estate, including social and affordable housing, to meet the needs of that community?
The area in question is one of three development sites that Dublin City Council intends to bring to the market and which offer the combined potential to provide over 1,600 homes and the opportunity to create three new, high-quality urban quarters. Accordingly, it is not intended to fund this project solely through the Exchequer. However, taxpayer funding will be a crucial element of the project, particularly in terms of public housing delivery. My Department looks forward to receiving a proposal from Dublin City Council in respect of this very important project very soon.
The final model for each site, including the different types of housing provision that will be included, will be the subject of careful consideration by Dublin City Council, including the elected members. They are best placed to consider the options to respond to the housing need in their area and I understand the city council has already commenced preparatory steps in regard to these developments, including consultation with local communities.
The Deputy will be aware that, in terms of housing alone, very significant investment has already been made in the St. Michael's Estate area, with over €20 million provided for the development of new homes at Thornton Heights. This demonstrates the Government's commitment to investing in the regeneration of this area. I expect that Dublin City Council will carefully consider the next steps in this regard and my Department will continue to engage with the council regarding the public housing element and associated investment. However, it is important that any future investment takes place within the context of a planned approach to securing a sustainable mixed tenure development.
It would have been in the council's own development plan that this was to be a mixed tenure development, and I presume the councillors would all have supported that at the time. There is agreement around the 30% social, 20% affordable and 50% private.
Not in the community.
It is an area of high social housing. I have discussed this in many arenas outside this House and know many members of the community favour the approach of a mixed development. I think Sinn Féin would rather it was all paid for by the State, with some houses then sold on as private houses, and that it is not against a private housing mix, although the Deputy can correct me on that. That is where we stand. Hopefully, this can move on in quarter 1 of 2018, when the local authority goes out to procurement.
It is important to remember that the origin of these schemes does not come from the councils but from a time when there was no central government funding available for any kind of scheme, whether mono-tenure or mixed. The difficulty with the funding model the Government is essentially imposing on the local authorities is, first, it does not allow the right quantity of social, affordable rental and affordable sale housing, and there is no guarantee that the affordable rental or affordable sale housing will actually be affordable. There is a real need to undertake a pilot project - we think St. Michael's is a good example - to show that a fully State-funded, council-led, mixed-tenure estate with social, affordable rental and purchase housing, at genuinely affordable prices, would not only deliver a better mix and meet the housing needs of the local community, but would deliver better value for money and greater levels of affordability. In fact, if the Minister of State asked Dublin City councillors whether they would prefer a State-funded, council-led scheme on this site or the model that has been imposed on them, they would opt for the first of those. That is why I am asking the Minister of State to consider this as a pilot and to compare this with his preferred option for O'Devaney Gardens and Oscar Traynor Road. He will find the arguments we are making on St. Michael's stack up.
This is a process we are engaged in with Dublin City Council and we can engage further with it around the percentages. I have said before that I think it is a key site for workers, given it is so close to the hospitals.
If they can afford the properties.
They can be afforded. This is a State-owned site. It is a key site and, if it is managed properly, it can deliver all the Deputy wants it to deliver. We have to try to make the best use of taxpayers' money. There is an opportunity to bring this forward, with a proper mixed tenure, which is part of a rejuvenation and regeneration of the area. As I said, it was signalled in the development plan. I believe we all want the same result; it is just a question of how it is funded. I think the funding model we have proposed can work very well on this site. I hope it progresses at speed because it was agreed last January and it is time to move it on. Again, the local authority can come back in with its proposals. If it wants to tweak it, we are willing to look at that with it.
