Taoiseach defends progress on housing as TDs told not to expect ‘overnight results’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators that local authorities will be provided with new staff to deliver social and affordable homes, as he offered a robust defence of the Government’s performance on housing.

Mr Martin on Wednesday night said the controversy over cuckoo funds leasing social housing to local authorities masks the Government’s “wider progress on housing policy”.

He implied that a Sinn Féin motion condemning tax breaks for investment funds which lease social housing to councils had diverted attention from the wider picture.

In a short parliamentary party meeting that was dominated by housing, he maintained the Government was not relying on the private sector.

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The Government is expected to sign off on its key five-year Housing for All policy once the Land Development Agency legislation (LDA) is passed.

Direct builds

He told his party’s parliamentary party that the “absolute focus of the Government is to drive on with direct builds of social and affordable housing”.

“The best value is to build our own stock. The Shangannagh plan (a publicly-owned site in South Dublin managed by the LDA) this week shows our intention to employ this model across the country with social, affordable and cost rental on scale,” he said.

Mr Martin said the Government had already progressed important legislation on housing, climate change and marine planning. He told the meeting that local authorities now need to get projects moving.

He also argued that family homelessness was down 48 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic began, driven by leasing arrangements.

“We will keep the pressure on,” he insisted.

Several TDs and Senators raised the issue of rising costs in construction. Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath indicated to colleagues they needed to temper their expectations on what could be delivered in housing.

He said the Government was taking housing seriously.

“We cannot expect overnight results,” he said.

AstraZeneca vaccines

Several members, including Dún Laoghaire TD Cormac Devlin and Wexford Senator Malcolm Byrne, said they had been contacted by people who were told by the HSE that their second AstraZeneca doses would not be administered until late July or early August.

However, Mr Martin assured members that all second doses of AstraZeneca would be completed by the weekend of July 18th.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly confirmed they would all “be done” by then. He also said he expected people aged 30 to 34 who have registered on the HSE vaccine portal to begin getting their appointment dates next week.

Mr Martin said the Government was on track to go live with the digital Covid certificate for EU travel on Monday July 19th.

“Delta is an ongoing concern and will be a slow burner. We need to keep monitoring it and increasing our testing and tracing,” he said.

He struck what colleagues described as a “cautiously optimistic note” but warned that unvaccinated people should be careful over the next few weeks.

“We are accelerating the vaccine rollout for young adults…We owe it to protect our young people by accelerating the vaccine rollout and being conscious of the impact of long Covid affecting many people of all ages who have contracted Covid,” he said.

Marathon cancellation

Mr Byrne was also said to have raised the issue of the Dublin Marathon being cancelled. He told colleagues that it was a major outdoor event and some way should be found to run it in a safe manner given many other marathons in Europe were going ahead.

Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill and Cavan-Monaghan deputy Brendan Smith expressed concern about the importation of peat products from Latvia as a substitute for Irish peat.

They said it would have a negative impact on the horticulture industry and criticised the “carbon cost” of transporting peat products by sea from Latvia.