Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

This year the Government has cut the capital allocation for local authority and voluntary housing by over €106 million. This is in the context of huge reductions already, from €1.5 billion in 2008 to €585 million in 2013. Recent figures for waiting lists for local authority housing have reached the shocking number of approximately 100,000 or, to be precise, 98,318. The level of social housing building in Ireland is at zero. Local authority housing has been decimated. The local authorities' budget for house building has been reduced from €367 million in 2010 to a paltry €65 million in 2013. Capital funding for voluntary and co-operative housing this year has been cut by €15 million, from €70 million to €55 million, a reduction of 21%. The public house building programme is almost non-existent and because of this, the numbers on housing waiting lists have increased hugely, from 56,000 in 2008 to 98,000 - the most recent figure - an increase of 40,000 families languishing on housing waiting lists. The Government has abandoned the social housing building programme. This is another reason the Labour Party is at 6% in the polls. It had a proud record in providing local authority housing, but it has done a U-turn on this issue also. What is happening is that house building has been privatised and developers and landlords are being paid, instead of putting the money into building houses. They are being paid through schemes such as the rent supplement scheme and the paying of mortgages over and over again through the rental accommodation scheme and the long-term leasing scheme. In view of the huge numbers languishing on local authority house waiting lists, will the Taoiseach agree that a major public house building programme should be commenced by the Government? Such a programme would provide a major stimulus for the economy, create thousands of jobs, provide badly needed homes for families on waiting lists, reduce social welfare expenditure and save money. Will the Government immediately commence a major house building programme for the 100,000 families languishing on housing waiting lists?

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