James Browne
Wexford · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I cannot accept amendments Nos. 10 and 11. The interpretation of "lawfully resident" and "habitually resident" is construed in accordance with section 20A, which sets out the new residency requirements for social housing applicants.”
“The safety net provision is to be provided by the local authority on a night-to-night basis, and this is to allow local authorities to reassess the circumstances each day to determine whether the safety net should still be provided.”
“I cannot accept amendment No. 21. This amendment proposes the introduction of a social housing passport allowing households to transfer between local authority areas while retaining their original waiting list or transfer list position. The amendment as it stands is well-intentioned.”
“No one factor is intended to be decisive and it is not necessary for a person to score strongly on all five factors outlined in section 20A(7) in order to get a positive decision. However, the local authority decision-maker must be confident that there is strong evidence that it is the applicant's main centre of interest.”
“In relation to Senator McCarthy’s amendment, while it was a very well intentioned and constructed amendment, it has been disallowed. It was not my decision on those matters. I am satisfied the safeguards and safety net are there for those who are not entitled by way of legal or habitual residence.”
“In practical terms, if an Irish citizen has severed ties abroad and has decided to return home, the process of establishing habitual residency could be determined from day one.”
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“The rationale behind the household water conservation charge was to encourage water conservation. It was not intended as a revenue measure. No further work is being done on this issue. This measure is not in the current programme for Government. as the Deputy rightly pointed out, and there are no plans to introduce it.”
“I thank the Deputy for tabling this important question. I will address some of the issues that have arisen. The Government decided in 2017 that water charges would not be levied on domestic customers and that the funding of domestic water services would instead be met through general taxation and paid through my Department's Vote. This position remains unchanged. There is a provision for charging for excess use of domestic water services contained within the Water Services Act 2017. This provision is known as the household water conservation charge. It reflects the recommendations made in 2017 by the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services and the previous programme for Government commitment to implementing these recommendations.”
“I thank the Deputies for their questions. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the management situation. In the context of Deputy Ó Broin's question, I will get an answer for that. I do not have the information to hand.”
“I again thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this matter. I know how hard she has pursued it. I do not foresee any further delays. There should not be any further delays. As stated, €66.15 million has been approved for allocation from the fund. This is an exceptionally large amount of money that is needed. Such a large amount deserves to be granted in respect of a project of this type. I will certainly do everything I can to ensure that we get shovels in the ground this year and get this much-needed project off the ground.”
“The development will have 578 homes in total, a community hub library, a creche, a supermarket, other retail outlets and a series of new public open spaces to create a vibrant new neighbourhood in Inchicore.”
“To assist the delivery of cost rental homes by local authorities, funding is made available by my Department from the affordable housing fund to reduce the delivery cost of homes to local authorities and thereby reduce the cost of rents to a level at least 25% below market rents in the area. Dublin City Council is availing of the highest level of funding support available from the fund, at €150,000 per unit, to facilitate the proposed redevelopment of lands at Emmet Road, Inchicore, which includes the site of the former St. Michael’s Estate. A total amount of €66.15 million has been approved in principle from the fund to support the 441 cost-rental homes proposed within the project.”
“I thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this very important question regarding St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore. She has been pursuing a campaign and working extremely hard on the matter for some time. Under Housing for All, the Government set out plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost-rental homes, by 2030. To deliver on this objective, the Government has put in place a comprehensive range of supports for affordable home ownership and cost-rental homes being delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and via the first home scheme, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.”
“I can assure the Deputies that this is an absolute priority for me. It is not ideal that it was not resolved before the general election. The funding is now in place. I will be acting with absolute speed to get this circular out. The very same people who are in that very distressing situation come to me. It might surprise Deputy O'Reilly but they do come to Fianna Fáil TDs as well-----”
“I thank the Deputy for this important question. I am very much aware of the housing crisis right across this country that causes very serious pain and suffering for individual families as a result. That is why I am determined to get our housing deliveries increased at a significant level. The tenant in situ scheme is a programme to ensure that people do not become homeless. That is why €325 million has been made available for this year. Local authorities will be issued a circular in the very near future notifying them of their allocation of funding to purchase houses under the tenant in situ scheme.”
“This information, and the details for requesting a review on decisions made, may be available from individual local authorities. My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by local authorities and approved housing bodies in each local authority. Comprehensive data on social and affordable housing is published on my Department's website up to quarter 3 2024, including completed acquisitions. Data for all of these schemes up to quarter 4 2024 is being collected and collated at the moment.”
“The tenant in situ acquisitions programme has been a key measure in the prevention of homelessness since its introduction in 2023. Therefore, Government has agreed funding to continue the programme for 2025. My Department has notified local authorities on the extension of the programme, and a circular setting out the arrangements will issue shortly. In 2023, Fingal County Council purchased a total of 221 homes, exceeding the allocation of 125. In the first nine months of 2024, Fingal completed 116 secondhand acquisitions, exceeding its allocation of 100. My Department does not hold data on the number of acquisition applications that have been withdrawn or rejected, nor does it hold data on the timelines for such acquisitions.”
“Rents for cost-rental homes are set to cover the cost of delivery, financing and managing and maintaining the homes modelled over at least 40 years. Cost rents paid will vary between households and schemes and is dependent on the size of the home and the location but cost rental is a more affordable option compared with the pressures of the private market and will always be made available at least 25% below comparable market rents. Rents for cost-rental homes are already below full cost levels thanks to the effect of subsidy elements of funding those streams.”
“As I say, I am awaiting the quarter 4 figures to be verified but I anticipate 2024 will be the best year to date for the delivery of affordable homes by our delivery partners. We will continue to work with all of our partners to increase the delivery of affordable homes in any shape or manner that they can be delivered in.”
“In the first nine months of 2024, a total of 4,480 affordable housing options were delivered across both affordable purchase and cost-rental delivery streams via local authorities, the Land Development Agency, approved housing bodies and through the first home scheme. While the quarter 4 figures are being verified, I anticipate that 2024 will be the best year to date for delivery of affordable homes by our delivery partners and I note the hard work going into that delivery right across the sector. Affordable housing schemes are now operating at scale and this momentum will continue as the pipeline is developed by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency.”
“I thank the Deputy for his question. Under Housing for All, the Government set out plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost-rental homes, by 2030. The target for 2024 across all of the various delivery streams was 6,400. A comprehensive implementation strategy is in place to support the various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of delivery partners. My Department publishes programme-level statistics on affordable and social housing delivery activity by local authorities and delivery partners in each local authority area. Data up to quarter 3 2024 is already published on the statistics page of my Department's website. Data for quarter 4 2024 is currently being verified, and I expect my Department will be in a position to report shortly.”
“It is private finance that will also want a profit. No matter what way you do it, private finance will always seek a profit - even those Irish savers if you tapped into them. I am not against that. We are going to examine that carefully to see if that can be done, but they will still want a profit for their funding. They are not going to put their money away if they do not think they are going to make a profit. No matter what way you do this, private finance requires a profit to instigate that type of investment. We will look at all the possible levers to do that.”
“We need to look at this to see how we can get those investors back into this country - they are in other countries - to deliver through the private sector the housing that we need in this country.”
“This year the Government has already committed €6.5 billion towards delivering housing in this country. We need probably a minimum of €20 billion spent on housing to deliver the necessary housing. The rest of that money has to come from the private sector. Financial firms, whether national or international, are a key part of that because you need that private funding to deliver those properties. While the Deputy is quick to criticise, his own manifesto commits to private funding to deliver housing in this country and yet he is not setting out what he would do in terms of where he would get that funding from. We will look at this radically again. I accept international firms need to make a profit. That is stating the obvious.”
“Further proposals for measures to help scale up delivery to 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030 will be considered in the context of the new plan.”
“Government is already examining actions to scale-up delivery in the immediate term, pending completion of a new all-of-government national housing plan committed to in the programme for Government. To this end, we are actioning priority commitments in the programme for Government with the potential to make an immediate impact, such as establishing a new strategic housing activation office. While supporting longer term delivery, such measures will also help maximise the impact of measures already introduced to strengthen the housing supply pipeline, including the development levy waiver and water connection rebate, which seek, inter alia , to activate the large number of planning permissions already in the system and address viability issues in relation to apartment delivery.”
“The planning permission data released by the CSO last week is concerning. It can be seen within the data that the overall dip is driven mainly by a fall in the permissions for apartments. This illustrates the enormous challenge of meeting our revised housing targets, the critical role of apartment delivery in this regard, and the importance of securing private capital investment to fund this delivery at the levels needed over the next decade and beyond. Government is committed to meeting this challenge and is taking a twin-track approach with a mix of pragmatic short-term and strategic long-term actions to help build on the recent significant uplift in delivery and sustain this into the future.”
“I understand the frustration among local authorities and approved housing bodies but there was a general election, which caused a certain delay in projects. Those projects are being worked through now as quickly as possible, though. A final check always has to be done on every project before its approval is notified to the local authority. I cannot guarantee that every single house will be approved within that, if an issue arises on the final check. What I see is that, subject to everything being in accordance with the requirements through those checks, any of them that are still outstanding would be approved in the coming weeks.”
“I thank the Deputy for his question. We received an additional €450 million a couple of weeks ago to release up to 3,000 new properties to be delivered. We are working our way through those approvals as quickly as possible. As the Deputy will know, they need to be assessed before final approval. The majority of those have now been done. It is something that is in flux at any moment in time, but I expect the last of those to be approved in the next couple of weeks in terms of funding. Regarding other applications on hand, we have an open call, applications come in and we process them. However, the fact that an application comes in does not mean it is necessarily going to be funded.”
“This is perfectly normal in the context of the circa 2,500 social and affordable housing projects which have been or are being handled by my Department currently and are scheduled for delivery in the period 2025 to 2027.”
“As detailed under Housing for All, the Government plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes by 2030, with 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes. A comprehensive implementation strategy is in place to support the various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of delivery partners. Since September 2024, my Department has approved 273 social and affordable housing projects and continues to approve projects. As with all Exchequer-funded projects, my Department, as approving authority, assesses each project application for suitability, value for money and compliance with the various requirements of the applicable funding scheme. There will always be projects on hand with my Department which are either under assessment or the subject of further engagement with local authorities or approved housing bodies.”
“The Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale, with a record level of investment being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025 - capital funding of €6.5 billion supplemented by current funding of €1.65 billion. The number of new-build social homes in the pipeline for delivery in the three-year period 2025 to 2027 is circa 36,000 homes, the highest ever for a three-year period. The strongest national delivery of social housing since 1975 was recorded in 2022 with 10,254 social homes delivered. This was exceeded in 2023 with 11,938 homes. Affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of the Government’s housing policy.”
“I agree, in that apartment delivery has collapsed. That is very clear. We need to have radical thinking in terms of how we get that supply of apartments moving again. That is where the significant shortfall in reaching our targets has happened, particularly in Dublin city but also in our other cities, including Limerick. Apartments need to be delivered. I intend to take significant action to get those moving. I am waiting for the Housing Agency to publish its report in the next couple of weeks. We will examine its proposals in certain areas and look at what we need to do to ensure we get apartments delivery moving again. We need to take radical action on it.”
“I am in regular contact with the Department of public expenditure and reform, but I would point out that there is record funding for capital delivery of housing for this year.”
“The Department never makes projections of what housing delivery will be. We have heard in the past number of weeks everything from 30,000 to 40,000 through different sectors in terms of various projections for completions. The outcome will be what will be. My intention will be to maximise the delivery of housing over the next 12 months and, indeed, over the next number of years. As Minister for housing, I am re-examining every aspect of how we deliver on those targets and what else we can do to ensure that they can be delivered. There are clear challenges in the system to the delivery of housing and we need to look at this from a fresh perspective in terms of how we can reach those targets.”
“It is intended to revisit these targets in 2027 if, reflecting on demand and growing construction capacity, we need different targets for 2028 and subsequent years. There is ongoing engagement between my Department and the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform regarding all financing arrangements related to housing. These will continue both in the context of review of the national development plan, the multi-annual funding requirements for the new housing plan committed to in the programme for Government and as part of normal annual Estimates discussions. My Department does not forecast new housing completions in any given year, however.”
“The programme for Government commits to delivering more than 300,000 houses between 2025 and the end of 2030, an average of over 50,000 per annum. Delivery over the period will need to rise incrementally to 60,000 homes per year by 2030. This target of reaching an annual average of over 50,000 homes is both ambitious and credible. It is drawn from the work done by the ESRI in 2024 on population growth and structural household demand. We clearly need to significantly scale-up capacity across the construction industry in the coming years and reaching 60,000 new homes by 2030 will be an enormous challenge. This can be facilitated by targeted support to grow the construction industry’s capacity year-on-year, establishing a platform from which housing supply can be ramped up to the higher levels needed.”
“It is unacceptable that there are commercial entities profiteering from situations where people are in breach of the law. We want an approach where we can enforce the law in such a way as to ensure these properties are brought back into use and are available for long-term renting in high pressure zone areas, while ensuring the impact on more rural areas that rely on short-term lets for economic and tourism purposes is minimised. I intend to bring a fresh pair of eyes to that enforcement. The Deputy's suggestions will be part of those considerations.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Broin again for raising this important question. We know that short-term lets are a problem, not just in Ireland but right across the world, particularly where properties are taken over and used. It is an increasing problem in Ireland, putting significant pressure on areas of high demand, such as Dublin city. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. Ireland has introduced regulations, but enforcement has proven to be very difficult. To set out some of the challenges, planning breaches where someone has put up a physical building are easy to identify and prosecute. When it relates more to a service, though, it can be quite difficult to detect it and gather the necessary evidence to bring a prosecution. I am determined to tackle this issue. It is putting huge pressure on our rental sector and homelessness.”
“Any amendment to planning legislation will be informed by policy and consider multiple factors, including long-term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed short-term let and the need to balance housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.”
“The short-term letting and tourism Bill will include shared data requirements such as specific addresses and activity profiles for each short-term let unit. This will enable authorities to implement and enforce a balance between the short- and long-term accommodation sectors. Member states will be required to introduce penalties for online short-term rental platforms that do not comply with their obligations under the short-term rental regulation. This matter will be addressed under the short-term letting and tourism Bill. It is important that there is a clear and consistent policy approach at national and local authority levels to determining planning applications for short-term lets.”
“I thank the Deputy for his question. We recognise the need to address the short-term letting sector in areas of housing need, especially in areas of high demand such as Dublin city, and where properties are not compliant with planning requirements. The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is committed to introducing a short-term letting and tourism Bill that will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of regulatory controls for short-term lets, including the establishment of a register to be managed by Fáilte Ireland, and for the implementation of the harmonised EU short-term rental regulation, which was adopted on 14 April 2024 and will be applicable from 20 May 2026.”
“We accept there is more to do but as my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, has already said, the Government is fully dedicated to addressing the housing crisis through the necessary measures, which include the continuation of the tenant in situ acquisitions. It remains a priority for this Government to prevent homelessness and help those in emergency accommodation to exit as soon as possible. We will continue to work with the local government sector to maintain progress, and I look forward to working with everyone in this Chamber to ensure continued success.”
“In supporting the countermotion I reassert that the intended review of the second-hand acquisitions programme, which will be carried out in 2025, will aim to build on progress to date and further improve the programme by way of appropriate policymaking. We will continue to work tirelessly to address these challenges and implement policies that will make a positive difference. I reassert the Government's commitment to a targeted programme and to highlight that this programme is already addressing the concerns raised. The progress made to date provides evidence of the effectiveness of the second-hand acquisitions, and by implementing the improved arrangements for 2025, this Government aims to build on this success. The Government is clear in its commitment to the core principle that everybody should have access to a home.”
“I do not understand the difficulty Sinn Féin has with insisting that landlords be registered with the RTB - surely this is good policy - or with the property being up to standard. These are properties that are being let out by landlords. What is Sinn Féin's difficulty with ensuring these landlords keep these properties up to proper standards? What is Sinn Féin's problem with prioritising children, people with disabilities and older people? This is what it is objecting to in its motion. The Labour Party went to more extraordinary lengths to try to make a point. It wants tax breaks for these landlords, even where these landlords might be operating outside of the Residential Tenancies Board. This was an extraordinary statement from the Labour Party. It is a pity its Members did not wait to hear the response but I will not go there.”
“The increased flexibility provided under the arrangements for 2025 ensures local authorities are in a position to respond to local needs and to support not only priority category acquisitions but also single persons and couples without children. The Government is committed to providing a targeted, fair and equitable programme to ensure the availability of these benefits for those most in need. Some of the mental gymnastics from the Opposition are quite extraordinary. Sinn Féin's housing policy from November 2024 proposes reducing the tenant in situ acquisitions programme down to 800 over the coming years. Nobody from Sinn Féin highlighted this today but there is a clear intention to reduce it.”
“The addition of eligibility criteria will provide greater focus and target our most vulnerable tenants, such as families, older persons, persons with a disability and people exiting homelessness. The motion claims the introduction of eligibility criteria would exclude certain cohorts but I refute this claim and I reiterate that the introduction of these criteria will provide a more focused and targeted programme to benefit the most vulnerable in our society, which must be welcomed. This being said, it is important to note these criteria do not exclude any tenant who has been served with a notice to quit. It should also be noted that the first response of local authorities is to work with these tenants to assess all available options to prevent the threat of homelessness.”
“In 2025 the programme is supported by funding of €325 million, and the provision of a capital funding allocation to each local authority will promote best practice and result in greater flexibility in the response to these local needs. This flexibility will enable local authorities to decide on the most appropriate action to prevent homelessness in each case. These measures further demonstrate the Government's commitment to addressing and preventing homelessness through tenant in situ acquisitions. In addition to the funding provided, the Government aims to further improve the operation of the programme, ensuring it is fair and accessible to those most in need.”
“The motion asserts the acquisitions programme was suspended and is intentionally being restricted. As the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, highlighted at the outset, since 2020 almost 7,000 homes have been acquired. Just over 3,100 homes were acquired between 2023 and the third quarter of 2024. These numbers clearly highlight the success of the acquisitions programme as a key measure in preventing homelessness and make clear that such acquisitions were not suspended at any time. I also note that the Government has provided funding for the continuation of the programme in 2025 to ensure momentum can be maintained.”
“We also recognise how these acquisitions possibly benefit vulnerable tenants who receive a no-fault notice of termination from their landlord. Since the extension of the acquisitions programme, officials from the Department have engaged with local authorities to ensure these updated measures are communicated clearly and promptly to local authority staff. These engagements are focused on ensuring the efficient continuation of targeted acquisitions by local authorities. I want to be clear in reasserting the commitment of the Government to the acquisitions programme and I have pointed out how the actions carried out to date demonstrate this commitment very clearly. While there is still much to do, the Sinn Féin motion and Opposition input this evening do not fairly represent the efforts and progress made to date.”
“It is important to note that tenant in situ acquisitions are part of a wider acquisitions programme for social housing, including acquisitions for older persons and persons with a disability, exits from homelessness services and buying or renewing acquisitions which tackle vacancy. I am acutely aware of the potential situation being faced by households in receipt of social housing supports under HAP and RAS who receive no-fault notice of termination. As a Government we understand the urgency and the need to ensure these tenants are prevented from entering homelessness. We will continue to work with local authorities to address these challenges and implement policies that will make a positive difference. The Government recognises the importance of tenant in situ acquisitions as a key measure in preventing homelessness.”
“I thank the Deputies for their contributions. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, has stated, it is a clear focus of the Government to increase the supply of new build social and affordable homes. Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge and preventing, and ultimately eliminating, long-term homelessness. This being said, I would like to assert the Government's commitment to the continuation of the second-hand social housing acquisitions programme and, in particular, more focus in targeting tenant in situ acquisitions.”
“I will consider all that has been said as I prepare, first, for the engagement with the Minister, Deputy Jack Chambers, over the coming months as part of the review of the national development plan and, second, for the development of the Government's new housing plan, which will follow. As I have said, I am focused on addressing the immediate challenge of boosting housing supply through all the means at our disposal while also supporting the policies and structures needed to enable the supply of homes that the country needs in the long term. The programme for Government contains dozens of commitments that draw directly from or are influenced by the commission's work. I expect there will be further opportunities to consider other ideas for implementation, most notably the Government’s new whole-of-government housing plan.”
“Striving to achieve our housing targets through all possible avenues, increasing the supply of social and cost-rental housing and addressing supply shortages in the private rental sector are all ultimately concerned with reducing and eliminating the risk of homelessness. The programme for Government reaffirms our commitment to the Lisbon declaration on working towards ending homelessness by 2030. We have set out a range of specific commitments to support this objective. We are closely aligned with the Housing Commission in recognising homelessness as a top priority and in our approach to addressing this challenge. I once again thank all Deputies who contributed to the debate.”
“I would also like to re-emphasise that the proposed new strategic housing activation office will bring a critical focus to the provision of enabling infrastructure for public and private housing development while addressing unnecessary infrastructure delays and blockages. Its focus draws heavily on the commission’s recommendation for a housing delivery oversight executive. While its function may not be exactly the same as the commission envisaged on day one, the approach being taken allows us to get the office up and running quickly and begin working towards the underlying objective. Homelessness remains a key challenge for the Government and addressing homelessness underpins many of our efforts and ambitions.”
“I am committed to implementing a regulatory model that secures a fair balance between the interests of tenants and landlords. I firmly believe we can protect renters and attract sustainable long-term investment and finance to finance new homes for rent at the same time. The two aims are not mutually exclusive. I understand the frustration expressed by several Deputies with the planning system and the timelines for delivering housing-related infrastructure. We have embarked on a significant programme of reform in this area in recent years. A cornerstone of these reforms, the Planning and Development Act 2024, will be commenced on a phased basis as soon as practicable. I also expect the revisions to the national planning framework to be agreed shortly by the Government and thereafter by both Houses of the Oireachtas.”