I must now deal with a deferred division relating to the ministerial amendment to the motion regarding housing and homeless prevention. Yesterday, on the question, "That the amendment be made" a division was claimed and that division must be taken now.
Housing and Homeless Prevention: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Eoin Ó Broin on Tuesday, 23 January 2024:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
— with escalating alarm, the ever-deepening homelessness crisis;
— that in November 2023 13,514 people, including 4,105 children, were in Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage funded emergency accommodation;
— that when all hostels and rough sleepers are included the true level of homelessness is closer to 20,000 people;
— that these figures do not include the tens of thousands of people sofa surfing or living in inadequate and inappropriate accommodation; and
— that the increased activity of investment funds, such as bulk purchasing of properties and increased rents, is driving further numbers of people into homelessness from the private rental sector;
further notes with concern that:
— the most recent report from the Health Research Board stated that 121 people experiencing homelessness died prematurely in 2021;
— the recommendations of the 2020 Interim Report on Mortality Amongst Single Homeless Population remain mostly unimplemented; and
— homeless charities are raising the alarm that homelessness and deaths of people experiencing homelessness are likely to rise in the time ahead;
condemns the fact that:
— since Fine Gael took office in 2011 homelessness has increased by 254 per cent and child homelessness by 540 per cent;
— since the current Government took office homelessness has increased by 61 per cent and child homelessness by 74 per cent; and
— the Government will not meet its obligations under the Lisbon Declaration to end long-term homelessness by 2030; and
agrees:
— that the Government bring forward measures to effectively ban investment funds from bulk purchasing homes that would otherwise be available to home buyers, local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies; and these measures must include increased stamp duty on such bulk purchases;
— to increase targets and accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing;
— to the use of emergency planning and procurement powers and new building technologies and vacant homes to deliver an additional stream of social housing specifically for those in emergency accommodation or at risk of homelessness;
— to end homelessness amongst those aged over 55 years and significantly reduce family and child homelessness;
— that the annual target for the delivery of Housing First tenancies must be doubled to 500;
— that any funds saved from reductions in the numbers of people in emergency accommodation should be redirected to homeless prevention to further reduce the numbers of people experiencing homelessness;
— to expand and accelerate the tenant-in-situ schemes for social and affordable housing to reduce the risk of homelessness;
— to increase funding for the provision of domestic violence refuge places; and
— to reintroduce the temporary ban on no fault evictions until there is a meaningful reduction in the numbers of people in emergency accommodation.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"notes that:
— supporting individuals and families facing homelessness is a key Government priority; increasing housing supply across all tenures is critical to addressing homelessness; significant progress is being made in increasing overall supply;
— a record 22,443 homes have been completed in the first nine months of 2023, an 8.9 per cent increase on the same period in 2022 and the highest number of completions recorded for the first three quarters of any year since the Central Statistics Office (CSO) data series began in 2011;
— there are very positive signs that the uplift in new home delivery will be sustained in 2024 and over the coming years, with almost 33,000 (32,801) new homes commenced in 2023; this is the highest number of annual commencements on record, an increase of over 21.5 per cent compared to 2022 (26,957) and is the highest number of annual residential commencements since records began in 2014;
— Budget 2024 provides an allocation of €242 million for homeless services to support increased provision of prevention and tenancy sustainment along with support services, and ensuring pathways out of homelessness as quickly as possible;
— Q3 2023 saw a significant increase (16.3 per cent) in the number of households who were prevented from entering emergency accommodation compared to the same period last year;
— over 1,700 acquisitions were completed in 2023, with the majority of these properties acquired under the Tenant in Situ Scheme; the Government has also approved an increase from 200 to 1,500 for Social Housing Acquisitions for 2024; and there is a strong pipeline for 2024 with over 1,600 proposals already being evaluated for purchase;
— the Cost Rental Tenant In-Situ Scheme (CRTiS) was introduced on 1st April, 2023, for tenants in private rental homes who are not eligible for social housing supports but who are at risk of homelessness; by the end of Q3 2023 47 CRTiS acquisitions have been completed; and
— an additional 1,319 supported tenancies are to be delivered nationally under the Housing First National Implementation Plan 2022-2026 which provides the most vulnerable of our homeless population with a home for life as well as key wraparound health and social supports; the Housing First targets are based on an analysis of need, this analysis involved all key stakeholders and was supported by the Housing Agency;
further notes that:
— social and affordable housing supply is increasing, under this Government (from July 2020 to the end of September 2023) 30,581 new social homes have been delivered, including 19,590 new builds, 4,216 acquired homes and 6,775 leased homes;
— the social housing pipeline is strong with over 23,600 homes either onsite or at design and tender stage at the end of Q3 2023;
— since affordable housing schemes were established in 2022 to end of Q3 of 2023, over 3,863 households have been supported, including 482 affordable purchase homes, 2,594 First Home Scheme properties, and some 800 Cost Rental homes;
— in Budget 2024, the total Exchequer funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes is €4.25 billion; the Capital provision of €2.7 billion will be supplemented by Land Development Agency investment and Housing Finance Agency lending resulting in an overall capital provision of over €5 billion;
— a review and refresh of Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland targets is underway, including for social and affordable housing, with revised targets to be agreed and published in 2024;
— sufficient provision is already made within planning legislation for the delivery of local authority housing through a temporary time-limited planning exemption to enable local authorities to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable (including cost rental) housing on State owned land;
— Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has been identified by the Government as a key measure to address the different housing needs in Ireland; methods to support the development of MMC in Ireland are set out in Housing for All and include an accelerated social housing pilot programme to deliver over 1,500 MMC units; and
— under the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) Activation Programme, launched in April 2023, local authorities are being supported to use the CPO process to bring properties back into use as social and affordable housing as well as selling these properties on the open market;
notes that, regarding bulk purchasing of homes:
— in 2021, the Government introduced a series of measures designed to prohibit the bulk buying of houses and duplexes, including Section 28 Guidelines which aim to provide an 'owner-occupier' guarantee by ensuring that new 'own-door' houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors;
— a 10 per cent stamp duty levy was introduced for the cumulative purchase of 10 or more residential houses in a 12-month period, aimed at ensuring a level playing field for traditional family home buyers, including but not limited to first-time buyers, while facilitating vital investment in high density apartments;
— since the introduction of these measures the increased level of stamp duty has applied to less than two per cent of total new dwelling completions; and
— by the end of Q4 2023, planning permissions which had the 'owner-occupier' guarantee attached amounted to 39,900 homes with an owner occupier guarantee since the guidelines were introduced in 2021;
notes that, regarding the provision of domestic violence refuge places:
— the Government has established Cuan, a statutory agency under the remit of the Department of Justice, dedicated to tackling and reducing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV); the Agency will support and oversee the delivery of safe and accessible refuge accommodation, and ensure the delivery of services to victims of DSGBV; and
— a key priority under the National Zero Tolerance strategy is the doubling of the number of refuge places over the lifetime of the strategy to 280 spaces;
notes that, regarding no fault evictions:
— the Government agreed on 7th March, 2023, that the 'Winter Emergency Period' under the Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 would come to an end on 31st March, 2023;
— extending the emergency period would be detrimental to the medium and long-term supply of private rental accommodation, local authorities are instead focusing on implementing the additional measures announced last March to increase the supply of social and affordable homes; and
— under Housing for All the Government is committed to increasing supply and protecting renters while trying to keep small landlords in the system; the Government is currently undertaking a review of the Private Rental Sector which will inform the measures which need to be taken to ensure a well-functioning private rental sector in Ireland; and
agrees that continued implementation of Housing for All represents the most appropriate response to deal with the housing challenges, which Ireland is now facing.".
-(Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 71; Níl, 58; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Berry, Cathal.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Amendment declared carried.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 70; Níl, 59; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Berry, Cathal.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.
Members should be aware that there are potentially five more votes in this voting fest.