Fingal County Council is exploring the possibility of purchasing a number of homes in Tyrrelstown, west Dublin after residents there were served with notices to quit their accommodation, acting Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly told the Dáil.
He said the local authority had been in touch and was looking at a possible purchase of the units, but added: “I don’t want to get into too much detail on that”.
Mr Kelly welcomed the attendance of Tyrrelstown residents, who were following the debate from the public gallery, and said he had proposed in the past that tenancies would be protected in the event of a property sale.
“I also proposed that certain models of rent controls be implemented,’’ he added
Mr Kelly said he believed there was an imbalance between ownership rights and the public good to such an extent as to warrant an in-depth constitutional review to examine the appropriate balance.
“I say this to be constructive rather than defensive and to demonstrate that effort on behalf of officials of the Department of the Environment has not been wanting, but certain obstacles could not be overcome during my time as Minister,’’ he added.
Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he would appoint a minister for housing if returned to government. He said he would also introduce a “housing initiative’’ within four weeks along the lines of the initiative on jobs introduced by the outgoing government.
Housing action plan Once approved by the Government and the Oireachtas, he said, it would form part of a new annual action plan on housing, similar to the jobs’ plan.
Speaking during a debate on homelessness, Mr Kenny said there was no shortage of development land but many urban sites remained stranded by a lack of local infrastructure.
He suggested the setting up of a new local authority residential infrastructure fund so local authorities could bid for extra capital funding to unlock residential development sites in high demand areas. He said the time had come for the State to invest in the necessary local infrastructure to facilitate such development.
He added tax and regulatory measures should be re-examined to incentivise the speedy development of zoned and serviced land banks in high demand areas.
Fianna Fáil environment spokesman Barry Cowen said the outgoing Government had“allowed a crisis to develop, which is now undoubtedly an emergency”. He said the number of repossession hearings had increased by 20 per cent this year compared to last year. Vulture funds, which were subject to no regulation, were now threatening up to 47,000 homeowners throughout the country, he added. Homeless families Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis said it was 24 days since the votes of the people had been counted. For nearly three weeks, it had been clear that if a government were to be formed, it would be one made up of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
“In those three weeks, many more families have become homeless while these parties play footsie under the table and shadow box for the public,’’ he added.
AAA-PBP TD Bríd Smith said a huge number of loan portfolios were taken over by vulture corporate investment funds and a huge number of apartments had been gifted through real estate investment trusts.
