Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuireann an leasú atá curtha faoinár mbráid ón Rialtas díomá orm, ach go háirithe an páirt i leith tithíochta sóisialta. An bhfuil an Rialtas dall ar an ghéarchéim thíthíochta atá ann? Ní dhéanfaidh an freagra atá ós ár gcomhair anocht ach cur leis an fhadhb atá againn.

On social housing, I laughed when I saw the Government amendment, especially since it speaks of permanent new social housing and then goes on to list how the State will further subsidise private landlords in this State with temporary leases. That is not a permanent solution. It is not a solution at all, given that 42% of private rented accommodation does not even meet minimum standards. The realistic solution is to provide direct funding to local authorities to build or purchase permanent social housing for the nearly 100,000 households on the housing list. As well as cutting the rent allowance and leasing bills, it would stimulate local economies, give a source of income to local authorities and regenerate the wastelands left by the previous Government which allowed the collapse of regeneration schemes in my area and others in the city and country.

Coupled with this, there is a need for a constitutional change to allow for a "use it or lose it" clause for derelict sites or derelict homes. The free transfer of empty apartments and houses held by NAMA to local authorities would also help address the social housing needs of struggling Irish families much more quickly and permanently than by subsidising the landlords and speculators, many of whom caused some of these problems in the first place.

In my area of Bluebell, there is an empty shell of an apartment block. Nearby, in Inchicore, there is the collapsed St Michael's regeneration project, and a large, brand new apartment block next door to that is also empty. There is a collapsed regeneration project in Cherry Orchard, and several derelict sites which Dublin City Council earmarked in the constituency for senior citizen accommodation to replace the pokey bedsits many of them are in at present. Also in the area are stalled large-scale regeneration projects in St. Teresa's Gardens and Dolphin House. Investment in any of those projects would create local jobs, stimulate the local economy, address dereliction and, most importantly, provide homes for the homeless and for those living in overcrowded or inappropriate accommodation.

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