Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The housing crisis is having a colossal effect on hard-working families and individuals. What is in this plan for the 137,000 workers on the national minimum wage or for workers on the average industrial wage who cannot get a mortgage from a bank but who do not qualify for social housing? Meanwhile, they face skyrocketing rents and increases in the cost of living. Have we learned nothing from the property crash? The Government is out of touch with the gravity of the situation and the reality of the housing crisis on the ground for the majority of people, including hard-working young people, who have not got a hope of getting a foot in the door of somewhere safe, warm and secure for their children. With homelessness on the rise, is this the great vision of an Irish republic?

In County Wexford, the most recent data shows house prices increased by an incredible 16.4% last year. From talking to many people on the ground, I can speculate that more people from Dublin and its surrounds are migrating to rural areas such as north Wexford, in particular Gorey, where they can either work from home or deal with a long commute to Dublin to work. This level of demand is driving house prices up. I am concerned about the impact on our infrastructure, such as public transport and our education system. I fail to see how this plan will deal with this in any meaningful way. People will continue to be priced out of cities and towns while the corresponding price rises and high rents are once again fleecing the pockets of young families.

The rental sector in County Wexford is not much better. Year-on-year analysis shows average rental prices in the county increased by 13%. The reality once more is that property speculators are buying up all around them and then charging exorbitant rents. I hear the fallout from this every day in my constituency office. Hard-working families are struggling to cope with uncertainty, insecurity and the threat of eviction. The stress and pressure they are under is unbelievable at times. This is happening at a time of their lives that should be all about the excitement of starting their independent lives. They are worried about being one pay cheque away from some vulture fund repossessing their home or if they will have enough to pay for childcare after rent or if they can deal with substandard accommodation for just a little longer until, maybe, something better turns up on the market.

Another generation of young people is being let down. We are failing them and, sadly, upon reading this so-called Housing for All plan, it looks like large landowners, institutional investors and big developers are rubbing their hands again. As WB Yeats once said, "You [will dry] the marrow from the bone".

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