I want to spend some time addressing an issue I have referenced before, namely the growing crisis of so-called parking wars and the service charge-related instability that is turning home ownership into a nightmare in many of our new communities. I give the examples of the Clonburris and Adamstown strategic development zones, SDZs, in my constituency, with which my independent colleague Councillor Helen Farrell, who I welcome to the Public Gallery, will be all too familiar, as will the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins. There are other large-scale developments in respect of which people were sold the promise of sustainable living but, instead, residents who can afford to pay for housing or those offered places on choice-based letting, end up being trapped in a planning vacuum. The guidelines have slashed parking ratios to the bone. There is often fewer than one space per unit on the basis of the fantasy that our public transport is already world class. As we know, it is not. There is absolute chaos in many estates in Adamstown central, Seven Mills, Kilcarbery and Citywest.

Traffic index data from January confirms that Dublin is the third most congested city in the world. Residents in the SDZs are at the centre of this gridlock. It might be argued that it is counterintuitive to call for more car parking spaces, but there is a difference between owning and using a car. We should by all means discourage car use, but with a lack of public transport, people do not have the ability to get from A to B. They are often stuck because public transport in their areas is not yet a viable alternative. Reports from March show that the Connolly-Adamstown rail line is at full capacity, with over 200 people boarding at single stops and commuters literally pinned to the doors. We know that the DART+ South West is promised.

In Citywest and Kilcarbery, for example, residents have been forced into rotational parking apps that limit parking to three days. People can book it in advance. This causes issues because people who have designated spaces are seeing other people park in their spaces. Rented houses in which there are three people working in jobs that require them to travel means that vans are parked all over the place. A lot of the time, the owners feel that they do not have any other choice.

The other issue is the skyrocketing service charges in some Dublin estates, which have increased by more than 53%. A recent report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, SCSI, confirms that three out of four owners' management companies, OMCs, have inadequate sinking funds for long-term repairs.

I have two questions. First, will the Government immediately review the parking ratios in Clonburris and Adamstown SDZs to facilitate overspill parking spaces? We cannot build car-free developments while the National Transport Authority admits that we do not have sufficient corridors. Second, will the Government finally complete the transfer of the Multi-Unit Developments Act to the Department of housing so we can have a regulator with teeth and stop the type of two-tier citizenship whereby homeowners are forced to pay for their own roads, lights and security on top of record property taxes?

I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising this matter. I am grateful to have the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, beside my for some local knowledge on some of these issues. I was in Clonburris not that long ago. I will get to some of the infrastructural challenges but I must say, being honest, that I was pleased to see the number and quality of homes being built and the partnership model that seems to exist – certainly from my visit - between the Land Development Agency, developers and the local authority. That is an important template for others to learn from.

We all know we are living through a housing emergency. We are all under pressure as the people’s representatives to see more homes built. We have set a very ambitious target of 300,000 homes by the end of 2030. We have to get there. Quite frankly, that means all of our communities and constituencies taking more houses. I am encouraged to see the increase in this regard in Lucan, Clondalkin and more generally across the Deputy’s constituency of Dublin Mid-West.

It is also true that those increases are putting real pressure on infrastructure. The Deputy highlighted the example of parking today, but there are a variety of issues in this regard, including public transport, schools and pitches. That is one of the reasons we set up the housing activation office because we need our local authorities to be able to work with central government. We need them to inform us about the key pieces of infrastructure they need or the things they need to be unblocked in order to deliver these homes, because we need to build communities as well as houses.

I live in a constituency that is not vastly different from that of the Deputy, especially the northern half where there is a significant number of additional houses being built, which we are glad to see. The challenges around ratios, parking spaces and the need for people to have a car are real and present too. On foot of the Deputy raising this issue, I will talk with the Minister, Deputy Browne. Some of these are matters for the local authority. Others are matters that central government can work through.

I am hearing about service charges a lot. This is a real issue for people. I need to check with the Minister for housing on this. We are committed to that transfer taking place and the completion of the Multi-Unit Developments Act. Let me try to get the Deputy an accurate timeline as to when that is likely to happen.

The council is only implementing the legislation it is told to implement. When I tried to get a major department store into the Adamstown SDZ, council officials refused and said it would upset the retail hierarchy because Tallaght and Liffey Valley are the two main retail centres. Therefore, anyone living in Adamstown has to go to Liffey Valley. Buses on the L51 and L52 routes do not turn up half of the time, so people are going to have to drive to do a proper shop. Unfortunately, they cannot get the train to Liffey Valley. These are the kind of real-time issues that arise. People in the social houses at the Crossings in Adamstown are being told they have no parking spaces. We have seen situations where people are parking on footpaths and in bus lanes. For someone like me who lives the green lifestyle, is vegan, etc., the obvious reality is that people need to have access to cars. We have to revisit this issue and ensure that there is some form of parking spaces are designated for people in these areas.

I do not doubt the Deputy’s green credentials, in fairness. The Deputy makes a fair point. All of this is always a balance. We are in a housing emergency but the point is that we want people to move into those houses and for them to become homes. Practical requirements about where people park their cars are not issues that should be dismissed. The Deputy’s community is, perhaps, a good example or case study for Government to reflect on. In many parts of the country, we are not seeing enough homes being built. In other parts, including in the Deputy’s constituency, we are seeing a significant number being built. Maybe that needs to be reflected in terms of some of the specific challenges there might be in areas like Adamstown and Clonburris where particularly high densities of housing are going in. On foot of the Deputy raising the matter, I will discuss it with the Minister for housing and ask him to come back and have further engagement with the Deputy on it.