Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I welcome this motion from the Labour Party and am glad it echoes many of the proposals that were set out in Sinn Féin's Private Members' motion at the beginning of this month. These are progressive proposals designed to help solve the housing crisis for many individuals and families.

Sinn Féin has called for an all-lreland housing strategy to tackle the crisis. We believe that the right to a roof over one's head is a fundamental human right. Many people believe the State's housing policy is being written at the behest of wealthy property developers and their speculator friends. Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, seen as a progressive step at the time to ensure a social mix in housing and to deliver additional local authority housing, was diluted just two years later as a result of lobbying by property developers.

It is abundantly clear that the majority of developers wish to literally buy their way out of social and affordable housing commitments to prevent decreasing the value of units in their new plush developments. This Government is once again complicit in the ghettoisation of social housing and only pays lip service to a commitment to promote social inclusion. The stipulation of 20% social and affordable housing in developments is a minimum and Sinn Féin has argued for more.

Of the 81,000 homes constructed last year, a paltry 831 were social and affordable. The Government has failed to deliver on its commitment in the national development plan to deliver social and affordable homes and Ireland has one of the lowest outputs of social housing in the EU. Government inaction will ensure that the NESC target of achieving 73,000 social housing units by 2012 to tackle the housing crisis will not be realised. It is shameful that the Government is putting the wealthy class of developers before families in critical need of housing, a case of once again putting profit before people.

On the issue of management companies, I have received numerous complaints from concerned residents who have been forced to hand over considerable sums of cash to these companies, which are usually controlled by the property developer. These management companies are notorious for failing to carry out their promised maintenance works. The regulation of these companies is long overdue; in fact I question their existence.

This Government's ideology relies on the market to provide housing. I must admit this policy has proven extremely successful. However, it is only successful for wealthy property developers, speculators, banks, solicitors and private interests. The losers have been those on low incomes, homeless people, people with disabilities and the aged.

It is undeniable that house prices have spiralled out of control in Dublin. Young couples are being forced out of the areas in which they were reared to live in far away commuter towns. Many of those lucky enough to secure a house are then faced with 40 year mortgages, not to mention travelling long distances to and from work. We have a two tier education system and a two tier health system, so why not a two tier housing system? Sinn Féin perceives housing as a basic right, not as an opportunity to reap massive profits through investment and speculation.

It is shameful that the State is subsidising private landlords, through rent supplements, to the tune of €1 million every day, instead of using this money to invest in more local authority housing. Sinn Féin fully supports the Make Room campaign to end homelessness, still an acute problem in this extremely wealthy state. While thousands of investor and holiday homes lie vacant, there are still an estimated 5,500 people throughout the State sleeping rough. In my constituency, the Tallaght homeless information service registered an 83% increase in the number of people accessing services. The local authority says that nobody is sleeping rough yet the local homeless unit gives out up to 200 sleeping bags per year.

The Government's housing policy is characterised by inequality and segregation. Sinn Féin believes housing is a right, not a commodity.

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