Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is essential there is a major investment in the provision of social housing by local authorities across this State as soon as possible. Sinn Féin’s party leader brought this up again today with the Taoiseach but he chose to ignore the issue with a sidestepping deflection as usual. Over the past several years, Sinn Féin has outlined how a €1 billion investment from the strategic investment fund would work for this sector but the Government seems to be intent on ignoring it. Many of the Government’s initiatives in social housing provision, including those announced on budget day, are actual reiterations of old initiatives and ministerial photo opportunities. While they might help the Government parties get over the local elections next Friday, even Government Deputies, including the Acting Chairman, Deputy Durkan, acknowledge there is a significant need for local authority house building programmes.

Sinn Féin’s figure of 6,502 houses being built from a €985 million investment is actually quite conservative. In many parts of the country, homes can be built for as much €80,000 and as little as €50,000. Laois County Council bought six houses last year for a little over €50,000 each which needed minimum renovation and now house six families. Averaged out at €70,000, the figure for new builds which could be delivered with that €985 million would be in excess of 7,000 units. That is before one even considers the extra for refurbishments.

Council housing is an asset, not a liability, to the State and local authorities. It has clear and undeniable benefits. It may have become slightly unfashionable for governments in the post-Thatcher era - what happens in England tends to spread here - when local authorities sold off large parts of their housing stock.

It may have become unfashionable for local authorities to provide housing but that is exactly what we need to do. These houses would be homes for families who have had to endure a great deal of hardship due to the failures of Governments. The most vulnerable and the poorest members of society, those on the housing waiting lists, have already been victims of the harshest cuts and the effects of austerity of the current Government and its predecessor. The plan my party is putting forward would give them a secure and comfortable home and give them a chance to live in dignity and to raise their families.

Council housing also benefits local authorities by returning revenue in rents. Previously, I have given the example of one local authority which will bring in up to €5 million in rents this year. The maintenance budget is €720,000. Obviously, the capital loan must be paid off. I expect that Laois County Council will bring in €4.5 million to €5 million in rents this year and the housing budget for maintenance, on my recollection, is €720,000.

Local authorities bring in revenue from them. Instead of doing this, we are forking out money on RAS, social leasing and rent supplements, all of which are drains on the public finances and much of which is funnelled into private hands. What we have is short-term thinking. It is self-defeating. These schemes are being held up to be preferable to providing more long-term solutions. If the State were involved in local authority housing construction at present, it would create jobs for builders and would return straightaway 13.5% of the cost of materials in VAT to the coffers of the Exchequer. There would also be an increase in returns in income tax, universal social charge and PRSI, as well as other revenue that would flow from that, and the benefit of a drop in the live register which the Government and its predecessor estimated would save approximately €20,000 per head. Each person going back to work saves €20,000, and it is crazy that the Government believes it is acceptable for local authorities to spend millions of euro putting the homeless in hostels but will not put meaningful investment into local authority housing which has all these benefits. It can only be ideology. Whose ideology is it? Is it Fine Gael's or Labour's?

See this speech in context