Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The motion calls for the removal of the provision in the legislation to create a shared equity loan scheme. The details of the scheme are not actually going to be in the legislation and we all know that. Therefore what Deputy Ó Broin and others are opposing here is the principle of the State providing financial support to people who are paying more in rent than they would on a mortgage for their own home which they would then own. They will not be saddled with it. Nobody is going to come with a gun, put it to their head and tell them to take out this loan. It is an option. It is giving people who are paying more money in rent than they would on a mortgage the opportunity to afford their own home.

We completely agree that this is not the definition of affordable housing. That is why we are bringing forward legislation to deliver truly affordable housing both to purchase and to rent on public lands provided by the State via approved housing bodies and not-for-profit NGOs. We know what affordable housing is and we will deliver affordable housing, but in the meantime we have also listened to the industry experts. We also know there are 40,000 planning applications sitting there and the State is in a financial position to support people financially who are paying more money in rent than they would in a mortgage to own their own home.

For that reason we are opposing the amendment. We want to give the Minister and the Government the power to introduce a scheme that will be calibrated and will have control mechanisms in it, as we all had recommended in this committee and which are included in the report. This will ensure they do boost supply, that they will increase the supply of new build homes, and that they will provide finance and financial support to first-time buyers, owner-occupiers, people whose relationships have broken down and who have lost their family home, and people who desperately want to get out of the rental trap and own their own home. I confirm to the Chairman we will not be supporting this motion.