Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The housing crisis is getting worse every week. Not a week goes by without some new statistic showing how bad the situation is getting. We see house prices and rents rising while, at the same time, not enough houses are being delivered to meet demand. We have a huge issue with capacity and the provision of housing. We know speculators are hoarding land and trying to maximise the profits they can make on it.

Is the Government prioritising the ability of landowners and speculators to make profits over the rights of people to have housing? If we do not provide strong CPO powers to use that as leverage, I have no problem with paying a fair rate for land. We know there are speculators out there. Does the Minister believe there are people holding lands to maximise profits while we are in the middle of a housing crisis? If he does, like everyone else here does, then action needs to be taken against these speculators.