Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with previous speakers. Most of what I was going to say has been said. I am interested in the 84,000 fewer homes headed by persons aged 35 years or younger in 2016 compared with 2011. That is a massive issue because younger people now are either still emigrating or they just cannot afford to buy a house. Local authorities have increased the number of houses they rent. They are renting more houses since 2011 than was ever the case previously. There is an increase of more than 500,000 people renting properties. That is a massive issue.

Some members have called for a property tax but when one looks at nearly 90,000 vacant houses in rural areas, many of them have just been closed up because people have emigrated as they cannot afford to stay in this country. There are not as many vacant houses in urban areas as people are living in cities where they can find work and pay bills. How does one protect people in rural areas who through no fault of their own find themselves in a housing crisis and have had to either emigrate or hand back their keys? What can we do? We have to make sure there is balance.

This information is crucial. We are in a homeless crisis and it is very hard to define it, but it is telling when one can say there are 245,000 vacant homes and properties. We also need to ensure that local authorities, through all the various agencies, gain from this, whether that is by means of disseminating this crucial information to local authorities, housing committees and the various bodies. We must consider how we use the information and ensure that most of the houses are either given back to local authorities or used by various bodies so that people can gain access to housing.

As other speakers have said, how are we going to ensure people are not paying so much money for rental properties when there are so many vacant properties that could be renovated but there are no penalties on local authorities to renovate houses? A law must be introduced in that regard given that there are 245,000 vacant properties. We do not have sufficient measures in place. We are not introducing sufficient measures. A balance is required. Something must be put in place to help people, including in rural areas, who are in need through no fault of their own. I am not aware of the scheme in England but we must introduce some measures.