The Dáil has debated a motion put forward by the Independent Technical Group addressing a “persistent” shortfall in the delivery of housing. The Private Members motion relating to Legislative and Structural Reforms was debated by TDs on Wednesday, calling on the government to declare a National Housing and Infrastructure Emergency and introduce time-bound emergency legislation.
Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice, who tabled the amendment, says it will enable local authorities and developers to accelerate delivery of housing on already-zoned, infrastructure-ready land.
The motion calls for a reform of rural housing guidelines, to permit housing on family-held farmland for more than one family member, subject to percolation and safety standards. In addition, it also calls on the Government to reform planning exemption regulations, to allow for up to 63 square meter structures for modular homes, extensions, granny flats (attached/unattached), or garage conversions. The motion, according to Mr Fitzmaurice, would restrict planning objections to persons with local standing, to eliminate serial objectors.
The motion also calls for the establishment of a dedicated Housing Delivery Acceleration Taskforce, reporting on a regional basis directly to the Taoiseach. It would comprise of senior officials from the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation; Transport; Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water); the Construction Industry Federation; ESB Executives; and Chief Executives of respective Councils, to coordinate and address cross-agency blockages, with all reports to be published quarterly.
Among other things, the motion calls on the government to amend national planning policy to permit pre-approved, standardised housing designs for social and affordable developments, to reduce delays and professional duplication, while maintaining compliance with Building Regulations and Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014.
Speaking today, Deputy Fitzmaurice said: “Three years ago I came into the Dáil and today RTÉ is reporting that we are now in trouble. To build a house, a site has to be dug out. Stone and concrete are needed. It is damning that three years after I raised it in the Dáil, we now face this.”
“It was raised with the then Minister of State, Damien English, a few years ago that quarries are being closed left, right and centre as a result of legislation. We are heading for a cartel of two or three quarries. Anyone who knows the building game knows that is happening. That is the first stage of building a house.
“The Minister said there is not one magic bullet and he is correct. I have given him 23 magic bullets that will help solve this situation.”
Regarding housing bodies, Deputy Fitzmaurice said that there needed to be a “simpliciation”: “The bottom line is that if people do their job and are given the utilities, instruments and simplifications, everyone could do their jobs without putting layers upon layers. All we are doing, if we get a housing tsar or whatever, is getting another person to blame.
“We will say they should have done their job. At the end of the day, if everyone who is appointed, whether in councils, in planning and up the ladder to Secretary General, does their job, we would not need more layers. What we need to do is simplify things.”
MULTIPLE HOMES ON FAMILY FARMLAND
Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins said that rural housing guidelines should be reformed to allow multiple homes on family farmland.
“Week in, week out, daughters and sons of farmers come to see me about trying to get planning on their own land. The hoops they have to go through are unbelievable. God help us if there is more than one daughter or son in a family. The Government must think people should have only one child, like a Chinese family,” he said.
“We are proposing that standardised housing designs be permitted to speed up planning while complying with regulations. We want to expand planning exemptions for modular homes and conversions of up to 63 sq. m.”
Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn, meanwhile, accused the Government of “allowing a generation of Irish people to be pushed further and further from the possibility of homeownership.”
“There is a moment in the life of all nations when the status quo becomes not just unacceptable but indefensible. This is one of the moments. Housing is not merely about economic issues; it is a question of justice, dignity and of intergenerational trust,” Deputy O’Flynn said.
“Yet, this Government has allowed a generation of Irish people to be pushed further and further from the possibility of homeownership. This is not because we do not have the land or labour is unavailable but because of our systems – planning, utilities, procedures and procurement. They have become relics of a past Ireland. They do not meet the challenges a modern Ireland demands.
“In an urban Ireland, particularly in the city of Cork, which I represent, and the urban areas of Mallow, this failure takes on a sharper sting. We see scaffolding of hope being replaced by scaffolding that will never rise. Families pay record rents while new homes remain trapped in the webs of objections, deadlock and endless consultation.”
The Cork TD continued: “Zoned lands lie idle while housing lists grow. Children grow up in temporary accommodation, which has become permanent through official and Government neglect. This motion does something successive Governments have been too timid to attempt – it demands structural change, not rhetorical sympathy.”
Deputy Mattie McGrath told the debate on the motion that housing is “the number one issue” and that politician’s clinics have been “bogged down” and there is “so little” politicians can do at present.
“There is so little output. In this regard, consider the whole HAP disaster. Billions of euro have been spent on it that should have been spent on public housing. We lost our way here as well,” Deputy McGrath said.
‘LET US GIVE LOCAL AUTHORITIES POWERS TO BUILD’
“I have skin in the game because I was chair of a voluntary housing association that built 17 houses – 14 and three. I saw all the delays, the supplication and the six different departments all over the country that just pass paper around, keeping people in jobs doing paperwork. If we want to build three or four local authority houses, we have to get a design team and consultants. Why can we not have but one scheme and just adapt for each site? It is a pure racket. This is going on and on and there is no sign of it changing,” the Tipperary Independent said.
He continued by claiming that “we have had more housing Ministers since I came in here than we have had hot dinners.”
“They all do their best but there is utter failure. Was it Einstein who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting to get a different result? That is what is happening here. We have a nice new acronym for the role of the new fellow brought in to move mountains – another job with a brass plate and a big office and a team of people under him, but doing nothing. Let us give the local authorities the powers to build.”
‘SYSTEMATIC ROT IN HOUSING AGENCIES’
The TD also said support needs to be given to the small voluntary housing associations, and not “the likes of the Peter McVerry Trust and many more housing agencies, which have turned into huge conglomerates.”
“I was on the national body for a number of years so I know. They took control of that, with their claws around it, and squeezed out the ordinary, local voluntary organisations, which is not acceptable. We need a massive rethink. Dismantle the Custom House and make it into a homelessness shelter or something. Get the mandarins out of there and get some common sense in there. Builders ring me every day of the week about Irish Water and An Bord Pleanála.
“I got a call last night about a Bord Pleanála inspector who did a report using ChatGPT. Imagine. Where are we going to end up next? Now we have changed the name. I love the Gaeilge, like the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, but changing the name is not good enough when there is systemic rot in those organisations, in the Custom House and in An Bord Pleanála.”
HOUSING MINISTER INSISTS PROGRESS MADE
Minister for Housing, Deputy James Browne, admitted that there “is still much to do,” but was critical of Opposition motion inputs which he said did not fairly represent the efforts and progress made to date.
“The motion claims that the Government is not treating housing with the urgency that it deserves, but we have laid a strong and secure foundation that will allow us to continue to ramp up delivery for the coming years. The measures introduced under Housing for All helped to establish a strong platform to scale up housing delivery further in the short term and secure a sustainable level of future supply that will help us to meet unmet and emerging demand,” the Minister said.
However, at the same time, the Minister said the Government “fully acknowledge that housing remains an enormous challenge.”
“The number of new homes coming on stream each year remains far short of where it needs to be,” he said. “The Government has committed to delivering 300,000 new homes by 2030, targeting at least 60,000 homes annually by the end of that period. To this end, the programme for Government commits to a new national housing plan to build on the success of Housing for All. The plan will incorporate pragmatic actions to boost housing activity in the short term as well as longer term actions that will implement systemic change and help to achieve and sustain the levels of supply needed in the long term.”