Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

As Deputy Ó Snodaigh outlined, housing needs have reached crisis point. Some 59,000 households are stuck on local authority waiting lists. That figure has increased steadily over recent years and will continue to grow. Those on housing lists are often living in homes that are unsuitable, overcrowded and too expensive. They have to share accommodation with others, including family members, or are in private rented accommodation that they cannot afford. Many families with children, in particular, are living in apartments and flats that have no facilities for children to play, either within or close to the buildings. In many cases, that means that children spend much of their time cooped up inside.

Much privately built and rented accommodation around our cities and towns is unsuitable for the raising of families, yet many families are being forced to rent them. In many instances, this happens with financial support in the form of rent allowance because public authorities have been unable to meet existing demand and targets for social housing have not been met. That means that what appears to be a saving for the public finances turns out to be a drain on them. Instead of building a physical asset, the State has often provided large sums of money in rent allowances to accommodate people who might otherwise be housed by local authorities. In effect, speculators who capitalised on economic growth by building houses, have their mortgages paid for by the State.

In my county, the housing list grew from 1,483 in 2002 to 1,831 in 2005. Those years witnessed the pinnacle of the Celtic tiger, but despite that the signals were not recognised and the necessary steps were not taken to address the fact that the public housing building programme was inadequate to meet demand. Since then, the situation has worsened considerably in Kerry and elsewhere. The overall waiting list for the whole county is now over 3,300, which represents an increase of 82% since 2005. Some 1,296 of these are on the county council waiting list.

In Tralee town alone, the waiting list has grown from 948 in 2005 to 1,300 now, which is an increase of 37%. In Killarney, the increase is even greater with the list having doubled in those three years to around 600. That situation can be mirrored across the country in every council area. It gives an indication of the demand that exists as well as the lack of facilities being provided by the State. That extremely disturbing situation reflects an increasing dependence on the public housing sector as a consequence of house prices having been beyond people's reach. In addition, the increasing number of unemployed has led to increased demands on local authorities.

We cannot overlook the fact that while the economy was doing well and the public purse was full, resources were not invested in meeting that demand. The State was content to allow the private sector, including lending institutions, to set the housing agenda. That meant inflated mortgages and rents were often way out of line with wage increases as well as the consumer price index for other products and services. We must recognise therefore that there was a considerable element of profiteering involved in the housing sector, which has contributed to much of the current economic crisis.

It is not too late to address the shortfall in public housing. It has been argued that a housing programme designed to clear the existing local authority housing list, which is almost 60,000 for the entire State, would provide a substantial boost for the construction sector and the economy in general. If that route was followed we would be killing two birds with one stone: fulfilling a pressing public need and injecting much needed impetus and capital into the economy at a time of sharp downturn. It would also reduce the burden on rent allowance.

Homelessness is a growing problem that affects many people who have recently lost their jobs or who are in low-paid employment. The demand for local authority and social housing is stark, but it needs to be met. This situation offers an opportunity to the Government to sustain the construction sector and the economy generally. We can do that and everybody will be prepared to put their shoulder to the wheel if the Government is prepared to take that chance. Otherwise, it will be indicted for what has occurred, namely, a waste of money and the neglect of those most in need.

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