Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the people of Dublin West for returning me to the Dáil to represent them, particularly the activists in the Anti-Austerity Alliance and the Socialist Party who worked so hard to have a representative in the House to bring forward some of the key concerns facing ordinary working people in Dublin West. That is the reason I have chosen to speak on this Bill today.

There are many aspects to the Bill but I will focus on section 22, in particular, which provides that the agency, in consultation with relevant Ministers, can develop proposals for investment to support economic activity and employment in energy, water, telecommunications, forestry and any other sector specified by the order. I fully support the principle of State investment in infrastructure and to create jobs. It is ironic that this runs counter to the neo-liberal philosophy that has been the mania of this Government, the previous Government and the European Union establishment over the last number of years, when the creed was privatisation and looking to the private sector to resolve all problems. The failure of that is seen in the 25 million who are unemployed throughout Europe. The Government is moving very late to invest strategically. This is a tardy and insufficient measure in the face of the mass unemployment and mass emigration from this country in the last number of years.

The Socialist Party is grateful to the officials in the Department of Finance for the briefing on the Bill which was given to my colleague, Deputy Joe Higgins. The core of the Bill is that €6.9 billion in assets from the National Pensions Reserve Fund will be given to a new body under the auspices of the National Treasury Management Agency, to be called the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. A total of €2.4 billion is already committed elsewhere, leaving €4.5 billion to be invested. That sum of €4.5 billion is insufficient in the context of the thousands who have emigrated from this country and the thousands who are unemployed. Let us put it in perspective. This year and every year €8 billion will be paid by the State in interest on our national debt, much of which is due to the bank bailout which was dearly paid for by the Irish people. Five years ago, the National Pensions Reserve Fund had €20.7 billion in assets. This was put into the banks and in 2013 it was worth €13.3 billion. Over €7.5 billion was lost by the Irish people due to the chaos of the finance system of capitalism. That puts the amount of money dealt with by this Bill in context.

I wish to draw attention to a glaring omission. There is no specific reference in the Bill to housing, which is the most important strategic and social need in this country at present. It is conservatively estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 houses can be built for €1 billion, so 40,000 houses could potentially be built if the money referred to in this Bill was used for housing.

That may sound fanciful but it is not. In 1975, more than 8,000 local authority houses were built in a single year, to say nothing of what was built by the private sector. During the Celtic tiger boom, up to 80,000 houses a year were being built. The idea that the housing crisis cannot be resolved quickly and within a period of perhaps three years is not fanciful at all and only requires the political will to be there.

I challenge the Minister. Is this going to happen? Is any of the fund going to be used for housing? Does he accept that could happen with the Bill? I await a reply, as do the thousands who are stuck on housing waiting lists and suffering from the neglect of successive Governments. It is not something that has happened under the current regime alone, but under the previous regime also. A mother with an autistic son contacted our office yesterday to say that she is now homeless. Through the kindness of charity, she is being put up for a night in a hotel. These kinds of case are the order of the day. A man contacted us who is sleeping in the van he used to use for work. That is what people have been reduced to by the lack of housing, rack-renting and Government inaction over successive years. All public social housing was devolved to the private sector.

Housing can be facilitated in the Bill. Does the Minister agree that it is a glaring omission, given the countless stories that have come up in the last few weeks alone? If it is not an omission that is to be corrected, will the Minister agree that this is another example of the Government's absolute removal from reality? It is a removal from reality that saw the Government punished severely in the elections over the weekend. Deputy Joe Higgins and I have been approached by countless people in Dublin 15 - in Dublin West - who are suffering because of the housing crisis. They are now going to take action. I caution the Government that there will be social unrest and activity over housing if action is not taken by the regime. Many people have established housing action groups, which are seen as increasingly necessary by those on the housing waiting lists. I await eagerly the Minister's reply to the effect that housing will be included in the Bill.

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