Eoin Ó Broin
Ceist:8. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he intends to publish the report from the Housing Commission on the right to housing. [15610/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 11 April 2024
Ceisteanna (8)
Freagraí ó Béal (19 píosaí cainte)
I commend the Government side, particularly the diligent backbenchers, on making an incredibly unsuccessful scheme sound successful. Three grants being drawn down in Longford in a year and a half is not, by any normal definition, a success. There were only 100 across the State.
That is not true.
This scheme is good in principle but an absolute failure in practice. If the Minister wants to sell three drawdowns in a year and a half to his constituents as a success, far be it for me to get in his way. The Minister has had the report of the Housing Commission on the right to housing for almost a year. When will he publish it? More importantly, when will he act on it?
Unquestionably, the Croí Cónaithe grant scheme is working extremely well. The Deputy would also know that, because it is Exchequer funding, there have to be checks and balances on the payments of grants. I know Sinn Féin might play fast and loose with money from time to time but, in fairness, it is Exchequer funding and we have to be careful with it. The scheme has taken hold. I know it is a grave disappointment to the Deputy. Just go and meet the householders who have benefited from this and the many thousands more who will. We are committed to it and will drive it forward.
To get to the Deputy's question, which he asked in the last three seconds of his contribution, in line with programme for Government commitments, I established the Commission on Housing in December 2021 as an independent body. I commend all the members of the commission on the work they undertook on that to evaluate Ireland's housing system, including issues such as tenure, standards, sustainability, and quality-of-life issues in the provision of housing.
It has the main report to do. At the same time, I tasked the commission to advise the Government on the critical factors to be considered regarding a referendum on housing and, if appropriate, to recommend wording for constitutional change. While this is not a commitment to a referendum on a right to housing per se, it is not precluded from the commission's terms of reference. The commission has submitted its report and recommendations to me regarding a proposed constitutional amendment. The report is comprehensive and, in reaching its conclusions, the commission examined many issues, including the range of complex constitutional questions that would arise. As part of the work, the commission undertook a comprehensive consultation, which I think was very important. It researched international experience, evaluated various proposed wordings and considered other critical factors involved with introducing amendments to the Constitution. I am currently considering the commission's comprehensive analysis and report as well as the next steps in the process, and I expect to bring these to Government in the not-too-distant future. I will come back in a supplementary reply with more detail.
It seems to me that the Minister has left out a few crucial details. The first, of course, is that a memo was due to go to Cabinet on this matter last autumn. The Minister thought he was able to proceed to refer the report to the Oireachtas committee for its consideration. That was blocked by his Government partners and now the thing sits in abeyance. I obviously have not seen the report, although I am keen to. I am a strong advocate of enshrining a strong right to housing in the Constitution, as is my party. It is quite remarkable he has had the report in draft form since June or July last year and in full form since August. I believe a minority report was submitted by a number of members of the commission, which I think is healthy for debate. When will the Minister publish the report? Does he intend to bring a memo to Cabinet for the referendum to be held or to refer the matter, that is, to kick it further down the road, to the Oireachtas housing committee? I do not think that is necessary given the extensive deliberations which, as he said, have been carried out by the Housing Commission, which I commend on its efforts.
The Deputy has rightly mentioned there are two reports on this. There is the majority report and the minority report, both of which have to be considered together. I welcome that. It shows that the commission has done good work and there are different views on it. It is complex. We have seen with regard to Bunreacht na hÉireann that one must be extremely careful and respectful of any proposed changes to it. The deliberations on this will not be rushed and indeed have not been.
The next step is that I will be bringing a memorandum to Government to seek advice and input from Government colleagues. It is not a question of kicking it down the road. I genuinely mean that because I have a particular interest in this. I will receive feedback from Cabinet. I would expect the joint committee to have a role in this too.
For the information of the House, and I know Deputy Bacik was here earlier, we have not received the main, overall commission report. That has been spoken about. I think people get mixed up with that report, which I am still awaiting. I imagine that will be informative about what housing will look like in the future in Ireland. Those are the next steps. I will keep Deputy Ó Broin informed of progress.
It is interesting the Minister did not refute or contradict my suggestion that there was an intention to bring a memo to Cabinet last autumn but there was a-----
No. I will do that when I come back in.
-----disagreement between Government parties. If I am incorrect, I would like the Minister to put that clearly on the record. The problem is that this is another of those occasions where he makes it seem like he is doing something but where it appears that nothing is actually going to happen. I suspect what will happen is that eventually a memo will go to Cabinet, with both the commission's reports, including the one he has had since last June on the right to housing and the one on the wider issues, which I understand is imminent. The Minister will refer them to the Oireachtas housing committee and give it six months to deliberate and come back, by which time, of course, this Government's term of office will be near its end, and he will never have to put into action the promises he has made but has failed to deliver on. The Minister says he is an advocate for a referendum on the right to housing. I think he should publish the report, let the rest of us have a look at it, and bring his memo to Cabinet as soon as possible. The Minister should put his money where his mouth is on this issue.
To clarify for Deputy Ó Broin on Croí Cónaithe, if he is familiar with the workings of his scheme and how it assists in his constituency-----
I allowed the Deputy in to ask a supplementary question.
God loves a trier.
-----the average time is 13 months for the scheme. It would be extraordinary to have any more than four grants issued at this stage because, as the Minister rightly pointed out, there are checks and balances.
A roaring success. Absolutely.
I know Deputy Ó Broin is a master of the U-turn and will be doing a U-turn on this scheme.
I feel the need to look for a bit of clarity. There is a minority report and a majority report. The Minister has received the minority report but he has not yet received the majority report.
I will come back to Deputy Wynne on it.
If the Minister would tell me what is still outstanding, that would be most helpful. In respect of the Minister's comments on the referendum and the need to get it right, this is 100% correct. The results of the recent referendums are of great concern. They were widely criticised, and rightly so. Unfortunately, I feel the need to state how important this is for people. Many people do not have any affiliation to a political party but they are scrambling to try to find housing. It is very important for them we have a referendum on this issue to make it a right for people to have housing. Only then will we achieve the proper game-changer, regardless of who has the majority in this House.
I have the majority report and the minority report on the proposals on how housing would be reflected in the Constitution. I do not have the overall Housing Commission report. It will come in time. It is about the future of housing in Ireland. While we are doing this, as we have said in answer to questions previously, it is important we continue to increase our housing supply, including affordable, social, private and across cost rental. We are doing this but challenges still remain.
For the record of the House, because Deputy Ó Broin seems to have a crystal ball and unique insight into the operation of Cabinet, and perhaps he is dying to get in there himself, the reality is there is no disagreement in this regard. The Government, and I as Minister, will have to consider both views in the majority and minority reports. We will do this. In near course I will bring forward a memo to the Cabinet and seek input from colleagues in government, which is the right thing to do. I will then set out the process after this. I will not pre-empt what these decisions will be.