Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. The briefing note stated that we are witnessing a massive population increase and said that by 2050, 70% of the world's population would be living in urban areas, with up to 2 billion people living in slums, with all the personal, health, social and economic ramifications of that. I know that Habitat for Humanity works to construct, rehabilitate and preserve housing, but does it also work with government and state agencies to improve urban planning? Is that part of its ambit, or is that beyond its resources? I am conscious that the population increases; it is not just about building houses, but where and how to build them and whether they are sustainable in the long run.

The importance of housing is detailed extremely well in the presentation. We know that Irish Aid focuses primarily on hunger and health. Do the witnesses feel that Irish Aid is doing enough to prioritise the issue of housing? What could it do better? The witnesses suggested that perhaps the Government here could promote shelter programmes. Does Habitat for Humanity do any work with UN-HABITAT? That agency is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. Do the witnesses feel it is achieving that goal? Does UN-HABITAT work adequately with NGOs? Does Irish Aid work with UN-HABITAT?

References were made to housing crises, decent housing and so on. We do not have to look far to find that. There is a crisis in this country. It is not on the same scale, but it is difficult to say that to families who are living in sub-standard accommodation, without proper heating. I know of a family in my own constituency who have no electricity at the moment. I had a woman in my office yesterday who was being bullied in her accommodation, but at 59 years of age she has no prospect of moving out because she does not have the deposit to move. While people will welcome our involvement in projects around the world, we also need to balance our views on what is happening in our own country. It is important that there is a voice for such people. We want to see safe, secure housing, free from intimidation, but we also want to see that in Ireland. It would be remiss if we did not state that there is a huge crisis in this country. I carried out a survey yesterday in my own constituency about people trying to get housing supplement. Of 77 households in the area looking for the supplement, 73 are over the limit, while two of the remaining owners do not accept the supplement. There is no way forward for people in such situations. There is no social housing coming through, nor is anything coming through via NAMA.

I welcome the work being done by Habitat for Humanity. It is positive and we need to support it, but we also need to look at what we are doing in our own country.