Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Labour Party for this motion and Deputy Gilmore, in particular, for his lifelong interest in this issue. It is a human right for every person to have access to a good quality house at a price that is affordable to them. This is something we tend to forget. The Government has been boasting since the publication of the Book of Estimates that between 70,000 and 90,000 houses were built this year. This is undoubtedly a positive development in itself.

It is difficult to see, however, how the Government can take the credit for it. It is the young people who must commit to mortgage repayments for the next 40 years who deserve credit. It is good that they have the confidence to make that commitment. As Deputy Burton observed, however, if interest rates increase by a further2%, many people will be in a woeful situation.

The main benefactor of this situation is the Government. It is akin to a laying goose as the Government coffers are filled with direct and indirect taxes on every house that is built. If ever there was a case where the Government is entitled to no credit whatsoever, it is this. That credit should be reserved for the young people who are paying way above the odds for their homes while the Government reaps the benefits.

I have the good fortune to have been in this House for a lengthy period and was involved in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition Government in the 1980s. Many commentators now subscribe to the mantra that the lights almost went out on this country at that time. The reality, however, is that more local authority housing was built in those years than at any other time because that Government had a social conscience. In County Galway at that time, a local authority housing list of 700 or 800 was considered a disaster. The current list stands at 1,700. All these families are in need of assistance from Galway County Council because they cannot afford to purchase their own homes. Any Government worth its salt, with the resources available to it that we have been told about in the last several days, should be ashamed of itself. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

There are many changes that could take place easily enough but which have not been made. The difficulties in regard to the tenant purchase scheme do not relate only to Dublin. It suits any Government, for a variety of reasons, that tenants should own their own property. It removes the obligation of maintenance on the part of the State and allows tenants to become home owners who will take pride in their property. I do not understand why it is not made easier and more acceptable for local authority tenants to purchase their homes. Authorities in other jurisdictions have found it is better to sell houses at half price in view of the benefits accruing to both tenants and local authorities.

I always believed in the concept of affordable housing but it must always be related to the ability of the person involved to pay. That affordability element is no longer in place. Even the so-called affordable homes are no longer affordable. I hope Labour and Fine Gael will be in a position from next May to implement the proposals in the Labour Party motion.

See this speech in context