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

Any honest, reasonable person would agree there is a crisis in the housing and homeless situation caused by the abandonment of the local authority house building programme by this and the previous Governments and the privatisation of the housing programme. As a result, 90,000 families are on local authority waiting lists throughout the country. In my constituency, Tipperary South, 1,225 families are on the list and have been waiting years for accommodation from local authorities. In Clonmel, 334 families are waiting, in Tipperary town 187, Cashel 164, Carrick-on-Suir 90, and it goes on.

The situation is even worse than the figures suggest because many families qualify for neither the local authority housing list nor a mortgage because the local authorities, under instruction from the Department, are implementing outrageous and ridiculous income guidelines. For example, a family of two adults and two children cannot get on a local authority housing list if they have income in excess of €27,500 gross per annum. Thousands of people are in that situation, condemned to rent privately forever more. Those income limits must be increased. The previous Government slashed them by 50% and I ask the Minister to restore them.

The situation arises on an ongoing basis in my clinic. I recently met a couple who, unfortunately and sadly, lost their home through no fault of their own, through unemployment. One of them was working at a minimum wage job and, having lost their home, they have found they qualify for neither rent supplement nor a local authority housing list. This is a direct result of the outrageous income limits implemented by the local authorities and the Department.

The house building programme has been privatised and abandoned. The figures speak for themselves. In 2010, there was €367 million for local authority house building alone. By 2013, the Government had slashed that to approximately €65 million. In 2012, the Government cut the allocations of voluntary housing agencies by more than 20%, from €70 million to €55 million. Meanwhile, private landlords are being supported to the tune of €500 million through the rent supplement scheme and by a similar amount through the rental accommodation scheme. We are effectively paying mortgages for private landlords.

While there are solutions, the only real solution is a major house building programme. We have been asked where the money will come from. Ireland is not broke or bust but significantly wealthy. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Costello, has told us here that Ireland is the seventh wealthiest country in the world. Assets are higher than they were at the peak of the boom. There are significantly wealthy people in this country who have assets of €239 billion. The top 10,000 earners in this country have an average annual income of €595,000 but are not paying their fair share and have not been asked by this or the previous Government to do so. We have no wealth tax, asset tax or higher rate of income tax for very high earners. If those taxes were increased, there would be adequate funds available to commence a major house building programme which would have a knock-on effect on employment and downstream employment, particularly in the retail sector. While that is a reasonable solution, unfortunately, neither this nor the previous Government has or had the political will required to implement it.

Will the Minister of State specifically consider the question of the disabled person's grant and housing aid for older people, which the Government cut from €55 million to €35 million? In my county, the grant was reduced from €3 million to €1 million. These are people who require such facilities as stair lifts, level access showers and additions on medical grounds. I ask the Minister of State to restore the budget for that.

See this speech in context