As Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, I have been assigned special responsibilities for housing, sanitary services and the fire services.
As regards the housing sector, I was completely baffled by statements made by Fianna Fail during the first half of this year about the housing scene. As a member of Dublin Corporation, I found it hard to appreciate statements from the former Government that a record 27,800 houses were completed last year, that over 30,000 houses would be completed this year, that the level of 6,000 local authority houses a year would be maintained and that the provision for local authority housing subsidy was increased from £62.067 million in 1980 to only £62.193 million in 1981. This assessment of the situation did not tally with my experience on the ground.
What are the facts? While there was a record level of housing completions last year, there was an estimated drop of 16 per cent in the level of private housing activity. Turning to 1981, nobody except Fianna Fáil expects completions to reach the 30,000 figure which was bandied about during the recent election campaign. Even the official estimate is only 25,500 and completions for the first six months of this year are already down 2,400 compared with the same period last year. That is why it is rather ominous that Deputy Burke spoke about many things in his speech, but he never mentioned housing. I can see why he would not want to mention housing.
I would like to talk about the local authority housing programme, Similarily, one of the most serious and depressing problems which confronted the Government on assuming office was the serious financial crisis which the previous administration allowed to develop in the local authority housing programme. It is no exaggeration to say that the programme was in a complete shambles. On coming into office I knew things were reasonably bad but I was not aware they were so bad. In my own local authority area by the end of this month there would have been a standstill. There would have been unemployment and closing down of housing developments because of the lack of finance. Up to the time I went into office there was no indication from the previous administration that money would be forthcoming.
It is no wonder I say that it is a shambles. Housing programmes have been awaiting sanction from as far back as last January and no action was taken. Apparently no action was contemplated and I have no doubt that no action would have been taken. It was a very depressing scene. One can well understand why it was not mentioned when Deputy Burke was talking because obviously it depressed him also. We have not left it at that. In our short time in office £30 million has been made available for local authority housing. That was not spoken of nor will it be spoken of. If that money was not forthcoming there would have been serious unemployment and a serious depression in the public sector housing programme.
The CIF mentioned last weekend that there were hold-ups. There certainly were for the last six months and they were not very hopeful of being able to criticise. We were in office less than two weeks when they criticised us. However, I am happy to say now that these housing programmes all over the county can get under way and that we can get our public housing programme moving.
Net expenditure on the programme last year was £114 million. When I took up office, net expenditure was being limited to £100 million on the basis of aggregate debit balances on local authority accounts not exceeding 15 per cent. This would represent a drop of 36 per cent in expenditure in real terms.
With over 80 per cent of the available capital provision in 1981 for the programme drawn by mid-year, local authorities, in addition to not being able to commence new schemes which are urgently required, were faced with the unhappy prospect of having to cease operations on their existing schemes and lay off workers at a time when national unemployment figures had already reached record levels, under the previous Administration. My colleague, the Minister, has already outlined in detail the background to the development of the financial crisis and general rundown of the local authority housing programme and the measures which the Government have taken to restore the programme to the level necessary to meet the existing need in the country. As the Minister pointed out, the rundown of the programme has been a gradual process rather than an overnight development. As I indicated, I have in my office programmes awaiting approval since last January.
The crisis which had been building up since 1978 is now beginning to show in the figures, the latest of which reveal that completions are already down on last year. More alarmingly, the number of new starts commenced in the first five months of this year has fallen by 558 or 24 per cent on the same period last year and the average monthly number of dwellings at planning over the period has fallen from 17,984 to 15,222. That is a startling drop. The target of 6,000 house completions in 1981 set by the previous Government cannot possibly be attained. Indeed, completions may be as low as 5,000 to 5,500 this year, the lowest figure since the early seventies. That is a clear indication of the commitment the previous Government had in the whole local authority area. Yet as late as June of this year they were stating in their elaborate press advertisements that completions would exceed 6,000 this year. This type of irresponsible cynicism designed to mislead the public should have no place among those who are charged with the responsibility of managing the programme. Over the last couple of days we had to listen to some ranting and raving from the far side of the House about irresponsibility and to all sorts of other charges. We are laying before the House the facts of the local authority housing programme. Any member of a local authority throughout the country is only too well aware of the terrible problem.
The failure of the previous Government to increase investment in the local authority housing programme to keep pace with increases in costs placed an almost intolerable burden on local authorities who were being asked to maintain the level of their programmes. Of course, with grossly inadequate capital the local authorities found themselves in dire financial difficulties. Despite their pleas for help, the Government refused to bail them out while at the same time proclaiming their commitment to local authority housing programmes. It must have been galling for local authorities to be carrying the can while the Government were claiming the credit.
I am not naive enough, however, not to realise that it is simply not enough to pump endless amounts of money into the local authority housing programme. Equally important is the necessity to ensure value for money. In this connection I am somewhat perturbed at the high cost of building local authority houses and I propose to have a re-appraisal of present policies in this area carried out in order to eliminate waste and achieve economies in the programme. This should be possible without reducing standards of construction which would have implications for maintenance costs in the long-term. It is important that from time to time we examine housing costs so as to ensure that at all times the high standard set by the last Coalition Government will be maintained when we eliminate low cost housing for all time. That is not saying that we must spend money foolishly or wastefully; we must ensure that we get value for every £1 especially now more than ever. My Department have in operation at present cost control procedures designed to produce a data bank of information on local authority housing costs from which it will be possible to identify areas where economies can and should be effected.
The Minister also referred to the necessity for the Government to authorise a further £16.5 million in local authority housing subsidy which brings the total provision in 1981 to £79 million. As he has said, the need for the extra allocation arose primarily from a decision by the previous Government in the context of the 1981 budget to under-provide for this item in 1981 and postpone payments until 1982. This was a regrettable decision and one which again would have placed local authorities in an intolerable financial straitjacket at the end of next November. I am glad to say that the present Government will honour their liabilities to local authorities in respect of subsidies in full in accordance with established practice.
It is clear that Fianna Fail swept the problem of the local authority housing programme under the carpet. Instead, they announced a housing package at their Ard-Fheis. To finance the package in 1981 they proposed to introduce a Supplementary Estimate of £1 million for the mortgage subsidy but no provision was made for the general increase in the SDA loan and income limits which would cost about £9 million this year.
That is a clear indication of the attitude of the previous Government and their total irresponsibility in the whole area of public housing. They did not want to know about it. They were interested in announcing cosmetic exercises and plans without ever making adequate provision for them. When we talk about a £950 million deficit their mouths are wide open in astonishment and they doubt the figure. There is no reason to doubt it. The figures are compiled by civil servants who served them also; they should know the figures as well as this Government know them now. There is no point in them crying "surprise". They hid the facts because of the election. These facts are out now and this Government are saddled with the job of having to do something about the situation. Otherwise our credibility as a nation would be reduced as would our ability to borrow in future. Any responsible Government assuming office would have to take immediate action.
It is not easy to take the action we have taken but when you come up against something as dramatic as what we have seen this week and since coming into office, a legacy of debt heaped upon more debt by a previous Government who had no concern about and showed no awareness of our finances, you must act. The only motivation they had was towards remaining on the Government side of the House. They did not achieve that even with their irresponsible spending. Thank God we now have a Government prepared to do something to remedy the situation.
To recognise the scale and the nature of housing problems the Government must have available to them as much information as they reasonably can assemble. Recognition of the nature and the extent of the need for housing is of fundamental importance and in this connection I am very glad to see that the analysis of an assessment of overall national housing needs which was initiated by the then Minister for the Environment in January 1980 and carried out by local authorities since then is now nearing completion. This exercise will reveal much useful information on the extent and the type of need which has accumulated and what we can expect in the years ahead. I am confident that the ensuing report, when it has been examined by the Government and published, will provide the basis for a realistic housing programme and for the adaptation of existing housing policies to meet the nation's requirements.
In the interim, however, there are positive steps which can be taken to expand the range of facilities to ensure that existing resources for the provision of housing are used to the fullest advantage. There may be hitherto unexplored sources of finance for housing which I wish to see tapped. As an avenue for channelling these resources into housing, I have been examining the question of the establishment of a Housing Finance Agency and I hope to be in a position to put forward specific proposals for the establishment of such an agency during the next few months. At present, I am arranging discussions on this subject with all possible haste with a large number of interested parties.
I believe that we must at all times look to see where we can raise the necessary finance in various areas to find other sources independent of local authorities, building societies and other agencies. I believe that the Housing Finance Agency will be the ideal basis for this and I look forward to working on it in the next few months with a view to having some tangible information in the early autumn.
Similarly, in the area of non-profit housing I shall be having discussions shortly with the representative group of people involved in co-operative and voluntary housing with the object of exchanging views on how this third arm of housing activity can be expanded to cater for specific types of housing need. Certainly, non-profit housing groups have the ability to produce houses; this has been demonstrated in some parts of the country. Arising from the proposed discussions I would hope that the energy generated by their philanthropic motives can be translated into houses on the ground. If we can get the voluntary housing bodies and co-operatives together under a tight umbrella, properly registered, with finance and with incentives, I think we can do a great deal. There has always been a great spirit in the area of co-operatives in this country. If we examine and come to grips with the problem and establish that third housing area properly we could be starting something which would be lasting and have a very great impact on the whole housing area.
In the private housing sector I am well aware of the extent to which persons who are not catered for by commercial agencies depend on the local authority house purchase loan scheme to enable them to house themselves. In this context it is, of course, important that the local authority loan and income limits should be kept at realistic levels. However it must be borne in mind that increased demand inevitably follows each increase in the limits. This increased demand, while gratifying, naturally increases the burden on scarce capital resources.
The position this year is that the amount available for house purchase and improvement loans and supplementary grants is just over £100 million. While this amount is substantially greater than the amount provided last year, because of the expanding demand, it is still not sufficient to enable authorities to pay loans as promptly as I would wish.
In an effort to ease the situation, as already announced the Government have decided to restrict the availability of ordinary local authority loans to married persons and persons about to be married. The underlying reasons for this decision have already been outlined by the Minister and there is no reason for me to repeat them. This step will help to ensure that the limited funds available are deployed to the best advantage and will go to the categories of persons most in need of them.
In my view, we cannot continue to ignore the extreme importance of adequate maintenance and improvement of the housing stock. We have an old housing stock. Schemes of grants and loans for improvement works operated by successive Governments ensured the adaptation of much old housing to meet modern needs and reduced the level of replacement building that otherwise would have been required. The improvement grants scheme in particular was a distinct incentive to people to carry out works to their houses. This incentive was removed more or less overnight by the Fianna Fail Government last year and Deputies will be only too aware of the general dismay at that bad decision.
I feel that, without a shadow of doubt, there is a real need and a pressing demand for a scheme which aids the provision of basic amenities. When I mention that the most recent survey of the housing stock which was carried out last year by local authorities revealed that, for instance, 185,000 houses lacked a fixed bathroom or shower, that 98,000 lacked sewerage facilities, that 87,000 houses lacked an internal water supply and that 32,000 houses were unfit but capable of economic repair, Deputies will appreciate the extent of the problem and the pressing need for Government assistance. Indeed, I find it impossible to understand why grants are not available for individual water and toilet facilities at a time when we provide a colour television service on two channels.
It is clear that our priorities have been wrong. We know it is important that we continue to build houses, but if we neglect our present housing stock we do so at our peril. If that happens we will have a waste of a valuable resource. The improvement grants hitherto available were not of a princely character but at least they encouraged people to carry out work in their homes. I am happy to announce that reasonable home improvement grants will be introduced very shortly. They will give people an incentive to extend their homes, to install bathrooms and to carry out improvements. The investment necessary will not be so large when one considers the return.
I was amazed that the scheme was abolished by the previous Government. I think it was included with another scheme and when the Government lost their nerve and panicked they withdrew both schemes. It was a bad decision and it worked to the detriment of our housing stock. As I have told the House, I will be announcing the details of the new scheme very shortly.
Immediately on taking office, the Government were faced with a particularly grave social problem relating to private rented housing. The Government's intention to tackle these problems is amply demonstrated by the manner and speed with which I introduced and had passed in the Dáil and Seanad the Rent Restrictions (Temporary Provisions) Bill, 1981. It provides an important measure of protection for many private rented tenants who were adversely affected by a recent Supreme Court decision declaring unconstitutional parts of the Rent Restrictions Act, 1960. This Act is a temporary measure to run for six months from the date of its enactment. Within this six months the Government will introduce, as promised in the Dáil during discussions on the Bill, further legislation to provide more permanent safeguards for the tenants involved and to ensure their security of tenure. In addition, where tenants face hardship as a consequence of higher rents arising out of the Supreme Court decision, assistance will be provided to aid the tenants concerned. I will have the necessary legislation before the House in the next session.
The private rented sector provides a source of housing for many groups within our community. It is important that the Government should encourage investment in this area. It is essential, there-fore, that the legislation introduced and the reforms made should be fair to all the parties concerned, the landlords as well as the tenants. People investing in this area must expect a fair return on their money. At the same time, every effort must be made to improve conditions and standards and to ensure that the rents charged are reasonable. Our programme for Government sets out measures which will go a long way towards creating the right atmosphere for continued improvement of this important part of the housing market.
I would like to say a few short words about the sanitary services programme, which is an extremely important sector because of the influence it exerts on economic development generally and physical planning in particular as well as employment farming, tourism, and so on. Capital provided for sanitary services in 1981 by the previous Government totalled almost £75 million, comprising £67.3 million for expenditure on public sanitary services schemes and £7.4 million on private group water schemes. While the Government have been under considerable pressure to achieve economies at present, they have very wisely decided that the provision for sanitary services should not be cut back. However, I am afraid that the existing 1981 provision represents a drop in real terms over 1980. There is nothing that I can do about that but the Government, however, have made an additional £3 million available to finance the shortfall in the provision made to finance the payment of State subsidies due to local authorities and arising from the expanded programme of sanitary services works now in progress.
Recent tragic events have brought home to us all the necessity for increased vigilance in the area of fire safety. We have seen the disastrous consequences of fire both in terms of human misery and economic loss to individuals and to the community. As Minister of State with responsibility for the fire services, I would like to place on record my commitment to the sustained development and improvement of these most essential services. I intend to ensure that fire prevention will be given the priority it deserves and that fire services training, which is of fundamental importance to the effectiveness of the services, will be developed and expanded.
I am committed to the passage of legislation at the earliest possible date which will not only strengthen the provisions governing fire safety, rationalise the organisation of the service, strengthen the powers of inspection and provide for an overall higher standard of safety for persons and property, but will also place increasing emphasis on the vital area of fire prevention. Forty years have elapsed since the Fire Brigades Act, 1940, became law and a new measure is long overdue.
Legislation, however, provides only a framework for action. I believe that the frustration and dissatisfaction in the fire service today is due, in part at least, to past neglect and under-development. Modern fire station facilities are urgently needed in many areas and fire brigades must be adequately equipped to deal with the many and complex demands placed on them by the growth of urban areas, increasing industrialisation and the greater use of hazardous substances. These needs should have been foreseen earlier. This Government are now faced with a legacy of deficiencies which will have to be made up as quickly as possible despite the fact that it will be more costly and difficult because of the appalling financial situation which we have inherited.
Even in the short space of three weeks we are beginning to come to grips with problems in the environment area. I have already outlined a number of areas where important policy changes have been made since 1 July and I am determined that we will develop a satisfactory programme of work during the next few months.
It has become necessary for us to make every effort to maintain the number of houses in existence and to provide new houses as required. I am working with the various agencies towards the development and the strengthening of co-operatives so that we will have a sustained local authority and private enterprise housing programme. I will be meeting the interested parties, including the CIF and other groups, to determine the role of the Government and private industry in this area. We must determine how incentives can be provided for further developments. Particularly we must examine the possibility of attracting more private capital into housing, the building of flats and houses.
I am particularly interested in participation by private interests in urban renewal. Local authorities are doing their share in this respect but the private side tends to opt for development for the more affluent sector outside urban centres. In order to meet the needs of society in general we must encourage private builders and developers. As well as building houses we must also concentrate on desirable environmental changes in inner city areas. If we are to get urban societies properly balanced, we must get the right type of economic development in urban areas. The climate is right for that kind of development, and when I meet interested parties I hope we will succeed in coming up with the right kind of schemes, involving, as far as possible, outside interests.
I think I have covered my brief in relation to the matters with which I am concerned as Minister of State — housing, sanitary and fire services, and urban renewal. It is a big challenge particularly because of the neglect of local authority housing in the past two years. The £30 million being injected now will not provide any great impetus. It will only keep the show on the road, as it were.
As I indicated earlier, the authority I know most about is Dublin Corporation. At the end of July, or early August, or after the holidays a number of schemes would have closed down because of a lack of capital. Because of a lack of confidence, in the local authority areas there has been a complete slowing down and it will now require a great deal of revamping and pressure to get this programme moving again. It is easy to slow things down, but it is often hard to get them moving again. I sincerely hope we are not too late. Now that I have this additional money, I am having the local authorities notified as soon as possible to give them confidence to go ahead and get the housing programme churned up and moving again.
Instead of the 6,000 houses promised this year, I think the figure will be of the order of 5,000 or less. Over the coming months I will put on the pressure to ensure that we keep the figure up. Given the neglect and the disgraceful indifference of the former administration I do not know whether I can do that. Everything that can be done will be done, now that I have got a commitment and the finance to ensure that our public housing programme will move smoothly. I hope we can get the private sector moving through our finance agencies and by having the proper dialogue with the industry to see what they can offer and what we can offer. Let us have a working partnership to ensure that the whole building industry is buzzing again. That is a barometer of the way our economy is ticking over. Unfortunately it has been tottering for some time. Now, with the change of Government, we are moving in the right direction.
