John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No single issue excites a greater sense of anger with the Government than housing. Nothing illustrates the failure of the Government to deliver for ordinary workers and families as the housing crisis or the housing disaster. The arithmetic of this failure is absolutely astounding. House prices have increased by 28% and by an average of €70,000 since the Government took office. There has been a rent increase of 25%, which is an average of €3,700 a year, increases to child homelessness of 47%, and the list goes on.

The Government has failed to deliver on its own targets, which fall far short of the level of ambition required to address the housing crisis. A whole generation is impacted by the mess the Government has created in housing, yet there are thousands of vacant and boarded-up local authority houses right across the State. In my own county of Wicklow, there are 145 vacant and boarded-up local authority houses, some of which have been vacant for many years. I am not talking about empty shells of buildings; I am talking about potential lifelines for families who are homeless or are at their wits' end as they linger on lengthy housing lists. Yet the funds from the Government to Wicklow County Council to repair these houses and bring them up to the standard necessary to allow the council to re-let them fall dismally short of what is required. Many people who are lingering on these housing lists in Wicklow and who need one of these houses have been on lists for ten or 15 years. Last year, the Minister's Department had an underspend of more than €500 million and that was for its low targets. Wicklow County Council would deeply appreciate even a small percentage of that to help bring some of those 145 boarded-up houses back to a state where they are no longer boarded up and can be re-let. Then those on housing lists for ten or 15 years who pay exorbitant amounts on private rental accommodation could be in those houses very quickly. The Minister needs to step up to the mark and bring forward proposals to put money into local authorities to bring these houses back to use and ensure the €500 million underspend is spent in delivering his own low targets.

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