Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 November 2022

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Business of Select Committee

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Let me make this point because I do not think the penny has dropped with the Minister during his period as Minister for Finance. We have been in an emergency for years and, as a result, we expect emergency measures. Today, on 16 November, the Minister has said he will be the Minister for Finance for another month and a day but he might not get around to setting targets or having the consultation he described with his colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage because there are other pressing things. Housing is the most pressing issue. This issue did not fall from the sky tonight. The Minister has been dealing with it for ages. We submitted freedom of information requests and we have seen, for example, how the Minister and his officials encouraged the change in the language contained in Housing for All, that he sat on the fence and was lukewarm on this issue in the first instance. In my view, the Minister has stalled this measure for very many years, has not listened to the Opposition and now, at a time of almighty crisis, a measure is being introduced that will only kick in, in terms of people cutting cheques, on 1 January 2024. Other than the amount of money he wants to raise, the Minister does not have a target in his head or written down as to what he wants to achieve with this measure in terms of vacancy and tackling the housing crisis. He has told this committee that despite the fact that he will be the Minister for Finance for the next month, he is unlikely to do this work within the next month. That is not acceptable behaviour to me and it is even less acceptable to the victims of the housing crisis that the Minister, his party and his Governments have facilitated and created.

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