Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I am glad I agree with Professor Whelan on something there, namely, the last point. I respectfully disagree with the economists on the issue of rents, house prices and so on. I will make the obvious point. I made it to the Taoiseach and have made it several times in this debate as supply, supply, supply is always the answer. Forget about the debate between Marx and Hayek, as interesting as that is. I point to our own recent experience. When we had the greatest supply of housing in the history of the State by a long chalk, that is, during the Celtic tiger period, when between 70,000 and 90,000 houses and apartments were being built every year, prices did not go down at any point. They consistently rose. That is because the market and the people who were providing had no interest whatsoever in prices falling. None. To my mind, they will not, of their own volition, increase supply to the point at which prices drop. Why would they? They would be mad to do that, from their point of view. However, from society's point of view the control they have over something as absolutely critical as housing is just not acceptable. I agree with the economists that controls, in and of themselves, are not the silver bullet. However, where the market has clearly failed, as it has in housing, one must do something to get something as basic as housing to a level that is affordable. At the moment it is simply is not and if one says wait for the supply to come on stream one will be waiting a very long time. I would like to hear the economists' answer to how they riddle that one but it seems to me one has to intervene. To an extent, I take Professor Whelan's point about the constitutional provisions around private property. It is interesting how that defence suddenly collapsed when rent pressure zones, RPZs, were brought in and so on.

I would like to see all this legal advice from the Attorney General. I am less than convinced about that excuse. The Government has promised a referendum on housing. Let us get on with it and have a referendum in which private property rights could be diluted in order to vindicate something as basic as the right to housing.

Regarding energy, it is not an opinion but a fact that the rich are the greatest producers of carbon emissions, so whether geographically or socially, the poor are being punished for the crimes of the rich in destroying our planet. However, we are saying that we should keep loading a self-evidently regressive measure onto the shoulders of the poor. The rich who cause the problems will not be particularly bothered by the carbon tax increases, so there is a real problem with regard to justice, which I believe is central. The climate objectives cannot be delivered if justice is not at the heart of it. It will turn most people off the climate agenda. We cannot afford to do that.