As Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Local Government and Heritage Mary proposed the following items for inclusion in the 2020/21 Joint Oireachtas Committee Work Programme:
- Report on the implications and effectiveness of a constitutional referendum to provide a Right to Housing to every Irish Citizen
- Amend “Living City” initiative
- Replace failed tax credit with time limited once off grant payment up to €25k
- Grant to be made available to stimulate regeneration in rural towns as well as inner cities
- Grant to stimulate regeneration of vacant commercial space in much the same way as Serviced Site Fund (€50k) aims to stimulate new builds
- Increasing take-up of a revised “Living City” Initiative will improve residential housing supply in our inner cities and towns, help address the housing crisis, reverse vacancy and dereliction, create employment, stimulate the economy, reduce carbon emissions, increase footfall in our retail/commercial districts and thus support our SME, Hospitality and retail sectors.
- Financially evaluate the various housing delivery methods employed by the state to provide housing and identify the best value for money models. The work will examine and compare the cost to the state of the various housing delivery models i.e. Emergency Homeless ,Rental Accommodation Scheme, Rent Allowance, Housing Assistance Payment, Homeless Housing Assistance Payment, State build, PPP, Long term lease and/or turnkey purchase. The output of the report will inform future public housing policy decisions. .
- Identify policy initiatives to stimulate construction of Affordable Homes
- Regeneration of Dublin City Council flat complexes
- Identify accelerated approval process for large local authority housing developments
- Viability of apartment construction in Dublin City
- Modular homes as energy efficient, affordable, sustainable, quick build, alternative solution to housing need
- Improve approval process to accelerate approvals and take account for Covid19 restrictions for Adaptation, Older Peoples and RetroFit grants
- Report on overconcentration of homeless facilities in parts of Dublin City, increased use of private security firms to operate homeless facilities and quality of outcomes
- Governance and operation of multi-unit developments
Local Government:
- Implementation of Moorhead Report
- Examine proposal for Directly Elected Mayor of Dublin
Heritage:
- Examine the delays to restoring Moore Street National Monument. Identify plan to accelerate delivery of National Monument Museum and Moore Street Market within lifetime of current Government.
- Report on state of Dublin City built heritage and identify actions Government can take to protect and preserve same.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage will meet next week to finalise the 2020/21 Committee Works Programme.