Joe Flaherty
Nominated by the Taoiseach · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“To his credit, the responses are skilfully crafted, and if you were not familiar with the situation, you would say there is nothing wrong here, move along. However, that simply is not true. The entire Lanesborough community is aggrieved and feels that it is now being used as a mere pawn.”
“Patients tell me that, in many cases, they are not given the option of booking the surgery in Lanesborough, but instead are being encouraged to attend the Longford clinic. I would be more than happy if Dr. Booth wants to continue his five-day service in Longford, but it cannot be at the expense of a rural surgery.”
“Regrettably, I have to raise this issue for a second time. It relates to Dr. Booth, who has taken over a GMS contract for two surgeries servicing Lanesborough and the larger Longford town in County Longford.”
“It is a dangerous generalisation the Senator is putting forward and she is forgetting that in the front line of dealing with housing and difficult cases are staff and housing departments across the country. From my experience, housing staff generally think through each case.”
“The consultants at the Rotunda were quickly brought to heel when they were not complying with their contractual obligations. It is critical that we do not allow this situation to continue any longer in Lanesborough. A contract is a contract, as I said. What we are seeing here is a concerted effort to close a rural surgery by stealth.”
“They did not write the legislation, but we need legislation to frame what we are doing. We are, on a daily basis, tackling a crisis. On the front line in that effort are our housing staff. We should commend them at every opportunity rather than throwing out gross generalisations that are deeply hurtful.”
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“These reforms will provide greater certainty to renters and make the sector more attractive in order to increase the number of rental homes we need. The Minister has acted decisively since he came into office. Here again, he is acting decisively to shield tenants from higher market rents. This is why we are introducing for the first time in this State a national system of rent control, which is significant. The first time Fianna Fáil came to power in this country was in the 1930s and immediately we launched what was probably the most seismic housebuilding project across Europe at that time. We took people out of what were literally slums in Dublin city and in provincial towns right across the country and built a whole raft of housing estates right across Ireland.”
“We brought in croí conaithe, which is one of the most successful housing initiatives of our time, and the help to buy initiative, which was equally successful. Both of them were condemned by Sinn Féin yet both have been critical in delivering new housing. It is notable that despite Sinn Féin being severely critical of this very significant legislation in its sound bites, only one of its Members is here to listen to the Minister. I must correct myself; Senator Andrews has joined us. The reinforcements have arrived. I commend the Minister on the work he is doing. This is hugely important because the current system, as he rightly said, is not working. We need a viable rental sector because of a lack of supply of suitable rental accommodation. We need reform in this sector.”
“I commend the Minister on his great efforts on this Bill and his wholehearted determination to resolve the housing crisis. I am struck by a couple of points. A statistic I heard yesterday was that over the past ten years, we have built 220,000 houses in this country. That is the equivalent of rebuilding Galway, Limerick and Cork. That is phenomenal output over a ten-year period. We accept that the right to a house is a basic and fundamental right. No party has ever been more earnest in the delivery of housing than Fianna Fáil. Our greatest critic and the party that has sought to weaponise and make the core principal issue of housing a political issue is Sinn Féin, the party that will always criticise regardless of which new initiative we bring in.”
“While no amount of money is enough, we should bear in mind that this amounts to €95,000 per property. It is a significant cost but one would not begrudge it to those people. If it costs €200,000 to protect each of their homes, they should get it. The Minister has responded very well to what has been a huge crisis. He has a very busy desk with a lot of crises on it but he has dealt very well with this. That said, I would emphasise to him that there is a sense out there that we are reacting too late. We need to make it a raison d'être of this Government that we are better prepared for these crises of mother nature - these natural disasters - because they are going to be coming on an annual basis. We really need to be better prepared for them.”
“However, there is a sense in communities that these bodies only meet on the cusp of a crisis or when something serious is looming. These organisations need to be meeting on a regular basis. We heard many academics on radio and we read articles by them in newspapers saying that there is so much information out there on water levels. There is a whole pool of knowledge that could be shared and that needs to be collated. We need to be much more proactive on this. If these two storms have taught us anything, it is that mother nature can be horrific when she turns against us. We need to make better preparations. We must consider the sheer scale of this. The Graiguenamanagh flood relief scheme in Kilkenny is costing €22 million and will protect 84 properties.”
“We have a ready-made, white-label solution for the insurance issue. The people who cannot get flood insurance should be allowed to access the Irish Public Bodies for insurance. That does not need any discussion. It is there already and is basically our insurance company. Cover should be offered to all of those people who have no cover until we come up with a proper solution. It is the least we can do for these people. It is a very easy, quick, short-term fix and would demonstrate proactiveness on our part. I urge the Minister to give that suggestion serious consideration. The development of the national flood forecasting and warning service, NFFWS, is obviously very welcome, as is the Government's task force on emergency planning.”
“By the Minister's own reckoning, it now takes 11 years to complete a flood relief scheme which, for those who faced floods over a ten-day period, is agonising to hear. The OPW has completed 56 flood relief schemes which have provided security and certainty to 13,000 properties and avoided further damages in the region of €2 billion, which is significant. There are ten schemes under construction nationwide in Athlone, Crossmolina, Glashaboy, King's Island, Morrison's Island, and the River Mall at Templemore, among others. All of those schemes are very welcome and cannot come soon enough. A big issue for many people is insurance. People who have been flooded now are never going to get insurance again. I welcome the fact that the Department of Finance is engaging with multiple stakeholders, including the Central Bank and the OPW, on this.”
“One would expect that they would have identified the weaknesses in their infrastructure and put in place a plan to address them. They have had 12 months to do so. They are going to get another 12 months to do it now and if it is the case that they need additional funding, I am sure that will not be too big a request and will be supported by everybody in this and the other House. The OPW is doing fantastic work on flood relief schemes. We know the challenges that present in relation to planning and trying to get these schemes through the planning system. Many of the people objecting to these schemes are the same people whose properties have been flooded and who have benefited from support and relief when it comes from the Government.”
“On the ESB and Uisce Éireann, everyone in this room will say there has been no improvement from either of those service providers since Storm Éowyn and if it happened again we would have the same problems. We should have active and ongoing engagement. I mentioned at the time of Storm Éowyn we should have a dedicated committee within this House looking at how our utilities are responding, because we are very much in a changing climate landscape. As a country and as a society, we are not prepared for it. I acknowledge the vast sums of money that are being spent on it but in many cases that spending is also dependent on the work of outside agencies such as the ESB and Uisce Éireann. I ask the Minister to outline the level of engagement with Uisce Éireann and the ESB following on from Storm Eowyn.”
“You are effectively standing on a psychological shoreline with water coming at you and you know that water is going to reach you tonight. There is no accounting for the fear, the depression and the mental health anguish those people are going to go through. Nothing short of a complete and sustained response from us as legislators will do in this instance. The Minister mentioned some issues with gullies. There are several local authorities that have not plans for clearing gullies. They did not clear gullies in anticipation of this. It is a very easy fix and should be done. It should be mandatory for every local authority to clear its gullies.”
“We are going to have another storm of this magnitude next year. They are going to be an annual issue and we need to ramp up our response to them. As the Minister said, the national emergency co-ordination group was activated on 27 January. If you listen to Kieran Cuddihy, his show really came alive. He probably had a low-key start but he gave outstanding coverage of Storm Chandra and brought home to the nation the impact these storms had. Businesses were destroyed and family life was upturned. A grandmother had to help her newborn grandchild into a boat in the Minister's county. A man who owned a garage business built up by his father saw it flooded for, I think, the third time. Your heart really goes out to all those people. Listening to them, they knew it was coming. There must be such a sense of foreboding when you see that coming.”
“I thank the Minister for coming into the House to address a hugely important issue across the country. I have a degree of sympathy for him as when he was appointed to his Ministry last year we had Storm Éowyn and he has just had another major storm event. It had major ramifications in his area and I congratulate him for the way he spoke so openly and candidly about that and about having first-hand experience. If we compare Storm Chandra and Storm Éowyn the one consolation - though there is no consolation for the people who saw their properties and businesses destroyed by flooding - was we did not have the severe high winds and the multiple power cuts and loss of water supply we had due to Storm Éowyn. If we had had those same high winds again this time I do not think we would have been in a much better state or readiness for that.”
“It will receive €3.6 million from Sport Ireland for the current Olympic cycle. A large proportion of its €10 million budget comes from the Department of agriculture. There are serious misgivings about Horse Sport Ireland at this time. The level of HR strife within the organisation in a very short window is deeply troubling. More worrying has been the failure to confirm that the body was indeed involved in HR disputes, some of which have been protracted, and was funding them through an archaic accountancy method, or as I said, possibly by means of employment practices liability insurance. There are serious questions to be asked about this organisation. We have repeatedly asked both the Department of agriculture and Sport Ireland to look at the matter.”
“In addition, two defamation actions are being pursued by two former show jumping coaches, Sally Corscadden and Grant Wilson. These date from November 2022. When Mark Tighe sought clarity from HSI on this, he received a statement to the effect that it was relying on its insured risk management framework to cover the costs and that there were not costs accruing to it. The other alternative is that the company possibly has employment practices liability insurance in place. However, at no time in his appearances before the committee did Mr. Duggan venture to share this important information. It seems strange that an entity such as Horse Sport Ireland requires such an insurance policy when many of our larger sporting organisations do not have the same. Horse Sport Ireland is lavishly funded by the State.”
“In recent weeks, Horse Sport Ireland, HSI, was back in front of the agriculture committee. Once again, its CEO, Denis Duggan, stated that there have been no HR issues in the organisation over the past two to three years and that there were no legal fees associated with any HR issues. He was certainly convincing and resolute. However, in the Sunday Independent at the weekend, Mark Tighe confirmed what the equestrian sector has known for several years, namely, that Horse Sport Ireland is involved in a series of HR disputes. In January of last year, Nadia Rea took a bullying case that was subsequently settled for a six-figure sum plus costs. In July, HSI settled a case with Michelle O'Reilly, another former staff member. Brian Hennessy, a former press officer, also filed an action against HSI.”
“They are about 200 years too late, but if things ever go bad, we might be able to. I hope they enjoy their day. It is a wonderful, historic building with a lot of history. I am sure they, more than anyone else, will appreciate the history of the building.”
“I thank the Minister of State for a very informative and passionate discussion. Sula mbogfaidh muid ar aghaidh, is mian liom fáilte a chur roimh na cuairteoirí san Áiléar Poiblí. I welcome our visitors to the Gallery. These are guests of the Ceann Comhairle and they are members of the Antiques Ireland group. If they are looking to buy a bit of stuff, they have come too late. The FitzGeralds sold off most of the stuff in 1815. We unfortunately cannot sell them anything today, as much as some of us might like.”
“I thank Senator Brady. I do not think we have any other speakers so I ask the ask the Minister of State to conclude and respond. I know there were an awful number of issues raised. My apologies, Senator Boyle would like to speak. We have kept the best until last.”
“I was stopped by one local man who was incensed that Waterways Ireland had come and cut out a large swathe of trees that there was no reason to cut at all. It would be a positive event if the canal were to reopen, but in the event of it not reopening, could we designate that as a nature reserve?”
“The ideal model to start that would be to have a freshwater national park in Lough Ree and then look at having a sustainable farming model on its islands. I would be interested to get the Minister of State's views on the fact that large sections of the Royal Canal and the Grand Canal have never been opened, particularly on the outskirts of Longford town. Given the amount of money that would be involved, it is unlikely they will ever be opened. Over the last 20 to 30 years, a natural nature reserve has almost grown within those canals. I know it does not look like it, but I was running out there last Saturday morning - at incredible speed - and I counted three hawks on a 5 km run, several foxes and several other species of birds.”
“It is impossible to know how a badger got onto an island but there are badgers there, but that is another story. As a country, we need to look at what we are going to do with the badger population. We have to consider some measure to try to contain it. We are paying a major price in terms of our farming community, particularly our small, rural communities. There are an awful lot of positives and huge scope for work that can be done in this area. We have what I would consider to be mainstream commercial farming that has moved into that space of environmental farming. As a country that values rural Ireland and the rural way of life, we have an opportunity, through the Minister of State's good offices, to look at sustainable farming.”
“The Minister of State comes from Cork so he knows we have a problem with TB in this country. One of those issues is the badger. Longford is the worst county in the country in the scale of the problem that we have. Large numbers of farmers are affected. The problem is to the fore now because of the value of cattle; the compensation farmers are getting is in no way commensurate with what the cattle are actually worth. We have come to the point where we have to look at what we are going to do with the badger population in Ireland and what its future is. I will go back to Lough Ree again; we have badgers on one of the islands there which are causing major problems for ground-nesting birds. Basically there are no ground-nesting birds on that island because of the badger. There should be no badgers on the island.”
“The association was surprised, in response to a question in the Lower House, when the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, was replying to a query and confirmed that a review of the memorandum of understanding is to take place. That came as a great surprise to the National Association of Regional Game Councils. It was the first the NARGC had heard of it. Obviously, it is taking the Minister of State's bona fides at face value. It has seen the positive work his office has done, particularly in the area of the mink eradication programme, and the significant progress we have seen in respect of breeding waders. It is unfortunate that the NARGC has heard about this process in this way. The Minister of State's officials need to engage with it and give it some degree of reassurance. We need a collegial process and to work together.”
“We have the traditional Irish goat which was almost extinct, but good work has been done on bringing it back. Both of those species can cohabit there reasonably well. We have the traditional Irish cob, on which some work has been done as well. We can do a lot of work on safeguarding and building on that through a national park in the midlands and specifically around Lough Ree. I have once concern in relation to the National Association of Regional Game Councils. It would be fair to say we had our battles with the Minister of State's predecessor. The Minister of State has come on board. Senator Noonan worked hard on it and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, has taken on the mantle as well.”
“Indeed, we have a TD in the Lower House, Deputy Brennan, whose grandfather was one of the last residents of one of those islands in Lough Ree, and subsequently moved to Galway. We have made significant progress in farming in terms of the environmental challenge, particularly through the offices of the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES. There is an opportunity for us, through the national parklands scheme, to look at a more pure and wholesome method of farming that even goes beyond what we are doing in ACRES. We have a great opportunity to revert to farming in what was its purest and most simple form through that. We have an opportunity with Lough Ree and its islands to look at sustainable farming in its purest form. We could look at bringing back some of the rare cattle breeds.”
“It would be reasonable to say that one of the untold successes of the previous Government was the progress we made in this area. We need to see that momentum continue. I know Senator Noonan was very much to the fore in a number of the new national parks. It was very much through his initiative and vision that it is happening. We need to build on that momentum. We do not have a national freshwater park at the moment. It will be no secret to the Minister of State that I will be making the case that it should be Lough Ree, particularly those lands around Lough Ree that are close to County Longford. The Minister of State visited the area recently as part of a national conference that took place in Athlone. He met some people who are involved in promoting that project. We have islands in Lough Ree where people still lived up to 50 years ago.”
“I thank the Minister of State for a very informative overview, and commend him on the passion and enthusiasm he has brought to the role. If anyone was to be asked what Ministry they would like, it was like Santa and Christmas for him when he got this brief. There are few Ministers in the House as passionate about their portfolio as him. He has certainly hit the ground running. He brings immense knowledge to this area, to the betterment of Ireland as a nation and rural Ireland as a whole. It would be remiss of me not to commend the efforts of his predecessor, who is now a Member of this House. Senator Noonan did significant work in this area and I was very proud to work alongside him in the lifetime of the previous Dáil. He put a lot of the building blocks in place that the Minister of State is now going to follow through on.”
“The nearest defibrillator is around the corner, just in case you do need it. We were expecting Senator Fitzpatrick but I do not think she is going to be here. I welcome some very important visitors to the Gallery. They have certainly come a long way. We have visitors from Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the USA. I welcome Michael Cosgrove, Patricia Cosgrove, Susan Ritterbeck and Robert Ritterbeck. They are all very welcome to this very important House in the seat of Irish democracy. It is great to see you here. I know you are guests of Senator Blaney. I hope he is looking after you very well. I have no doubt he will bring you up to Donegal afterwards and I am sure you will have a great five or six days up there. I call the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, to make his closing remarks.”
“One of the more humorous highlights of the summer was when he had to interrupt his holiday in Italy in July to take umbrage with somebody leaking information that suggested An Post's future was not as rosy as might otherwise be thought. He dealt with that very well. I have been a great advocate and admirer of his work in An Post, as has the chairman of An Post, Kieran Mulvey, who I understand is undergoing a short hospital stay at the moment. We wish him very well. I commend Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn on her stellar defence of the GPO building. It was indeed irksome and somewhat tiring to see a political party highlight that project earlier in the year. It was disappointing. The best way to see history is to see it continue in a living environment. I now invite our final contributor, Senator Martin Conway, to make his contribution.”
“Thank you very much, Senator Byrne. We have just one more speaker offering. Before I bring in Senator Martin Conway, I might just make some observations myself. The €15 million for the post office network was a huge part of the budget and was very much a key plank in our programme for Government. It underpins the absolute commitment of this Government and previous incarnations of it to the post office network and rural Ireland generally. It is also important that we pay tribute today to the management of An Post, in particular to David Redmond. It is fair to say that while he has been at the helm of this organisation, he has been a catalyst for great change and progress. We have seen An Post's earnings increase from €38 million to €55 million and its revenue breach the €1 billion mark for the first time.”
“I welcome Colm O'Brien from Tallaght. A frisson of excitement swept the House today when we heard he was coming in. Seemingly, he scored 55 in a game of golf yesterday. Everybody here claims scores like that but I do not believe most people believe it. I congratulate Colm on his achievement. He is a guest of Senator Andrews and I hope he enjoys his day in this every important and historic House.”
“Thank you very much, Senator. I was delighted to hear you mention John Major, the erstwhile grey man of British politics, but a man of impeccable taste, because he visited County Longford a number of years ago. I am sure you can agree with his sentiment to visit that county. Tá na Seanadóiri Evanne Ni Chuillin agus Gareth Scahill ó Fhine Gael ag roinnt a gcuid ama. An bhfuil sé sin aontaithe?”
“One of the headlines in a US newspaper at the weekend was "From Dingle to Del Mar" because Dylan started his career in pony racing, which is very much a community sport that gets very little, if in fact minimal, State funding. I know that people in Donegal are very proud of Dylan. I hope that, in the fullness of time and when he returns from Tokyo, we may be able to invite Dylan and his family to Leinster House to recognise his phenomenal achievement for what is probably a racing backwater, with which I am sure the Minister of State will agree.”
“I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue. I wish to advise him, and I am sure he will share the sentiments expressed for his fellow county man, that we congratulated Dylan Browne McConalogue - my apologies, it is McMonagle, but it was close enough - earlier today on his heroics in winning the title of Irish Champion Jockey. Another champion jockey held the title for six years but Dylan took it with 95 wins. More importantly, Dylan won an historic race in the Breeders' Cup last Saturday night for a national hunt trainer, which was unprecedented. He will now go to Japan on a contract until the Irish season resumes. It is a remarkable success story.”
“A big bone of contention and concern for us in rural Ireland is that we are relying on the EPA to bat for us when we are seeking the retention of our nitrates derogation from the EU. I am adamant that the EPA does not want to hold onto that derogation. It very much has a biased single agenda. It is anti-rural Ireland and anti-farming.”
“Arising from that report, there was a piece in the Longford Leader which stated, "four sites above 50 hectares - an area of more than 200 hectares in total - has been identified in county Longford with heavy machinery used during industrial type operations." That is totally misleading. It is deeply wrong that the EPA can publish something as flawed as that. It is absolutely incorrect. It was aware that Bord na Móna lawfully operated nine different peatland complexes across 13 counties. It cited that as fact when that is not correct. It also gave export figures in the report which, again, were deeply flawed. It clearly has no insight into or grasp of how those export figures are calculated. There is deep frustration with the EPA across rural Ireland. We are concerned because it appears that nobody is policing this.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that he is probably restricted in much of what he can say, but he has to understand the frustration being felt across rural Ireland that we have an independent State agency that is seemingly answerable to nobody. The fourth site to which I refer lies across a number of townlands. The EPA, Longford County Council and everyone living in the areas surrounding the site are aware that there was no peat harvested there from as far back as 2020, and at least 2022. The EPA is aware of that, yet it included the detail in a report.”
“I welcome the Minister of State’s response on those questions. I hope to deal with the remaining site when I come back in.”
“The EPA took legal proceedings against Derrymore Peat Limited in relation to this site in August 2022. On foot of that court case, it was proven without doubt that there was no hydrological connection to any other area. In his ruling, Judge Owens dismissed all the charges against the defendant in the case. Peat in the area is now being harvested by Derrymore Peat, which applied to Longford County Council for a section 5 exemption. The council subsequently submitted that application to An Bord Pleanála on 20 January last. We are still awaiting a decision on it. EPA inspectors have visited the site on numerous occasions. How can the EPA honestly state that this site is being used for large-scale illegal peat harvesting when its inspectors are fully aware that the site is less than 28 hectares in size?”
“In its report, the EPA said that Bord na Móna has ceased commercial harvesting and that large-scale remediation programmes are under way. How can the EPA honestly include this site in a report on large-scale illegal peat harvesting when the inspectors are fully aware that production at the site ceased in 2020? The second site at Clooniher and Annaghcooleen comprises a very small area of bog measuring just under 5 ha. This site is being used for horticultural peat, and the rest is of the peat is being used for domestic fuel. How can the EPA honestly include an area of just under 5 ha as large-scale illegal peat harvesting when its inspectors are fully aware that it covers just 5 ha? The next site lies across the three townlands of Derrymore, Trillickacurry and Ballymakeegan.”
“Like many people in rural Ireland, I am increasingly perplexed by the EPA, particularly in the aftermath of the report in question, which is riddled with inconsistencies. I am worried that we are relying on the EPA as we try to secure the continuation of our nitrates derogation from the EU. I am obliged to ask whether, on the basis of the detail in the report, anyone actually polices the EPA. The report covers nine counties. It is riddled with significant and misleading errors. I will focus on the four sites in County Longford that are mentioned. I do so on the basis of an application for information under the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations. I will deal with the four sites in order. The site at Coolcraff is owned by Bord na Móna.”
“Ar dtús, I know we lauded the successes of many people in soccer at the outset but before I get to the important business of my Commencement matter, I wish to single out the heroics of young Donegal man Dylan Browne McMonagle over the weekend, who was crowned Irish Champion Jockey. He unseated six-time winner Colin Keane with 95 winners. Not only that, on Saturday night, he went over the US and recorded an historic Breeders' Cup win for Willie Mullins and is now heading off to Tokyo for the off-season in Ireland. He will no doubt return to perform more heroics next year. I hope the House will, on his return from Tokyo, invite him and his family to Leinster House to applaud what has been a huge success for this stellar young man in Irish sport. The matter before the House relates to the EPA's report on large-scale illegal peat extraction.”
“If the Minister of State could apply similar vigour, it is to be hoped we will see something happen on that because it has been transformative in terms of opening up finance for approved housing bodies, as the Minister of State said himself. A secondary challenge and offshoot of the housing crisis has been student accommodation, and this is one way we can alleviate it. I thank the Minister of State and his officials for their efforts on this important legislation.”
“I did speak to the Bill last night, but I thank Senator Conway for working in the spirit of the Bill, and particularly at a time when we face such a crisis in housing. A number of speakers last night drew attention to the issue of regional and technical colleges and their inability to access funding. There were positive soundings last night that there would be a move in relation to that. It is a significant concern for people across the Chamber. The Minister of State’s colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, did take note of it last night and indeed seemed enthused that something may happen.”
“Before I call Senator Craughwell, I take the opportunity to note that several groups visited the House during the deliberations on this matter. We had groups hosted by Senators Sarah O’Reilly, Imelda Goldsboro and Sharon Keogan. Senator Keogan's guests were Councillor Grainne Maguire, Shane Cleary and Samantha Boden.”
“It is on everybody's mind, whether you are a grandparent, a parent or someone finishing college. The first and immediate thought and concern for most people is housing. This is a big issue for us in Longford and I hope the Minister of State can take it up with the Minister, Deputy Browne, as I will do. I ask the Minister of State to relay my disappointment about the committee meeting today and my disappointment that this issue has been allowed to fester for so long. We need to get it addressed.”
“Anybody who can deliver 250 B2 standard houses at €40,000 a pop is giving pretty good value in my book. Unfortunately, the upshot is the local authority is out of pocket to the tune of €8 million. It is a huge encumbrance on its balance sheet and is restricting further growth and development throughout the community and enterprise in Longford. I was hopeful and enthused that somebody from the Department might have been at the committee meeting to address this particular issue. I hope the Minister of State can take my concerns and disappointment that the issue has not been addressed over the past four years. It is a critical issue for Longford. Everybody in the local authority and the Department of housing realises the single biggest challenge we face in this country is housing and the delivery of housing.”
“It was the worst performing local authority in terms of its vacancy rate, which was at 7%, primarily caused by a lot of socioeconomic issues in the county and there were a lot of cultural aspects. There were many estates that basically had been let go derelict in large parts, with five or six houses together. The local authority got its act together and, between 2020 and 2024, it brought 250 houses back into stock. As Members of the House know, the going rate for a local authority bringing a house back into stock is €11,000, even though the Croí Cónaithe grant is €50,000 or up to €70,000 if the property is derelict. To make a long story short, Longford County Council has spent in the order of €11 million to bring 250 houses back into stock. This is an average of approximately €40,000 per house.”
“As the Minister of State rightly said, this safeguards funding for the agency right through until the middle of next year. It is very important. As eye-watering as the figures are, I will use the rest of my time to bug the ear of the Minister of State on an issue that arose today at the meeting of the housing committee where we were dealing with vacancy. The figures involved are not quite as significant as what we are looking at here but it was disappointing that while officials from the Department came to discuss vacancy, none of them were working in the area of vacancy. This is no disrespect to the officials who did come to the meeting. I wanted to highlight in particular the case of Longford County Council which, a number of years ago, was a laggard on vacancy.”
“We have to pay tribute also to the people working in local authorities who are driving many of these projects and are the catalysts for the momentum and growth we need to see in the housing market. I also commend the many small developers in particular who have reached out to the agency, have been able to secure funding where this had been difficult, and have been able to get their projects up and running. The Bill is very important and timely and it is critical we get it through the House. The numbers involved are surely eye-watering. We are increasing the HFA's statutory borrowing limit from €12 billion to €13.5 billion. The upshot is that if we did not take this initiative, it would simply run out of the opportunity to give any more funding after 6 November.”