Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a surreal debate. First, we should not talk about houses but homes, although I am certain I will lapse in that regard myself. There is a difference between a house and a home. A house can be used by someone to make a profit on or visit occasionally, such as one at a nice seaside place. A home, however, is where families are reared, shelter is provided and people feel safe and secure. It is their little place in this world.

There appears to be a paradox in this regard in Ireland, however. For the past several years, we have been in the throes of a financial crisis as a result of an economic system where the building of houses, apartments, office and industrial buildings played a major role. However, despite the massive number of units built during the so-called “tiger period”, a wholly insufficient number of local authority homes were constructed. Private developers were given the ability to opt out of their social responsibility under Part V of the Planning and Development Act. At the same time, local authorities were also selling off many properties but were slow to replenish stock. While the Government is not responsible for much of what happened then, perhaps the parties opposite should have done more when in opposition to make sure that it did not happen.

The Government is responsible for fixing the problem. That is its job. As an Opposition we are responsible for giving the Government proposals and suggestions to help it to fix the problem that was left by the previous Government. That is the way I see it. We are not here to score political points, we are here to help.

The public private partnership model which prioritised profit over the provision of homes was one which was pursued during the Governments of the Celtic tiger era. Major housing regeneration in Dublin such as St. Michael's estate, in Dominic Street and O'Devany Gardens collapsed when developers decided the profit margin would not be great enough for them or because they got into financial trouble. Let us contrast that with the situation that has developed since the onset of the recession where more than €1 billion has been cut from the housing budget to construct homes for those who need them. That, coupled with cuts to rent supplement and the failure to tackle the crisis in employment has resulted in a spiralling of the number of people who now need homes. The situation is almost past the stage of being able to claw it back.

Even at this late stage Sinn Féin has an alternative vision of how housing needs should be addressed. We believe the right to a home is a basic human right, one which must be protected by the State. Such a right cannot be granted or withdrawn at the whim of a Government or a Minister. We recommend that this right be enshrined in Bunreacht na hÉireann and enforceable by the courts, as was recommended by the recent Constitutional Convention. That change, and the funding to support it, should it be introduced, would transform the situation in terms of homes and homelessness in Ireland. Adequate housing should be defined as a home with suitable privacy, space, security, accessibility, lighting, ventilation, basic infrastructure, and location with regard to work and basic facilities. Sinn Féin maintains that everyone has the right to protection from homelessness. We also believe that every person has the right to security of tenure, whether in public or private housing.

However, the reality of the current situation is very stark and it is depressing to read the figures and to translate them into the human misery they represent. Currently, approximately 90,000 households need homes. That is more than 100,000 men, women and children. Many are living with relatives or friends in grossly overcrowded conditions; other are living in substandard and overpriced rented accommodation while others still are in emergency accommodation for the homeless provided by local authorities or charities or are among the growing numbers sleeping rough on our streets.

Rent supplement costs the State a large sum but it does not solve the crisis that exists in this country. A total of 74,000 households are in receipt of rent supplement at a cost of €344 million a year to the State. The cap that was introduced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, is well below the market average. That is the context of rising rents, especially but not solely in Dublin. In my area the maximum rent supplement that is paid is totally unrealistic and the situation will not change until rent control is introduced to reduce the level of rent currently paid in the private sector. The failure of rent supplement to tackle the housing crisis has forced people into homelessness because they are unable to match the market rate of rents.

The housing assistance payment, which is to replace the rent supplement, will remove recipients from waiting lists and condemn them to stay in private accommodation at the whim of the market for as long as they remain renters. That is the most unkind cut of all. The State has abdicated responsibility for such people who must continue to rent privately. That is shameful. It is a Government attempt to make it seem that the housing waiting list is reducing when in fact the Government is removing itself ever further from tackling the crisis in terms of the provision of homes for those who need them.

During the tenure of the Government there has been a failure to deliver homes that were originally promised by NAMA for social housing. It is scandalous to see so many empty housing units in this country and at the same time to see people lie in the street. It is scandalous that people cannot get a roof over their heads while there are empty houses all over the country. That makes no sense. To date, only 531 of a current total of 5,294 homes that were promised have been completed. As of June 2014, a total of 15 local authorities delivered no NAMA housing whatsoever.

Sinn Féin has identified €1 billion in unused money from Ireland's strategic investment fund. If we were to use the money, an additional 6,600 homes could be built over and above current targets, and 10,000 new social housing units could be built before next summer. The projection is based on costings from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in addition to figures from the Department on long-term vacant social housing units. In 2012, Sinn Féin proposed a large-scale investment through which it was projected that as many as 9,000 homes could be built for the same money. Failure by Government to act on the proposals at the time has resulted in the estimates being revised downwards. There are also additional benefits to constructing an extra 6,600 homes. I refer to the significant number of jobs for construction workers, many of whom have struggled to find sustainable employment since the bubble burst and who are unemployed. So many new homes would generate considerable rent for local authorities and could save the State €29 million if 6,600 households on rent supplement were placed in permanent homes.

The rising cost of rent is also pushing many who are on the brink into homelessness. Sinn Féin proposes a fair rent control system which bases rates on the consumer price index and the quality of accommodation.

Rent controls exist in some form in many European states, including Britain, France and Germany. Focus Ireland, Fr. Peter McVerry, Threshold and even prominent members of the Labour Party have supported call for some form of rent control. I understand a report on this is due to be published by Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, this month. Unreasonable rent increases cause many to lose a permanent roof over their heads and introducing measures to tackle this problem could, in some way, help our housing crisis.

In the north west it appears that local authorities have no funding to renovate vacated houses for re-letting or to facilitate transfers, even in the most meritorious of cases. Why is this? If we are serious about our responsibility to provide homes for those who cannot afford them, this situation cannot be allowed to continue.

I propose we accept the fact that in this State marriage and partnership breakdowns occur in some families. The State has not tackled this and it must be addressed because couples who divorce and separate are put through great difficulties when dealing with local authorities on housing. I am not saying it is easy - I am saying it needs to be addressed.

I will conclude by referring to a family from Slovakia that I dealt with yesterday. They may as well be Irish. I would not like to see an Irish family in Slovakia treated as this family has been treated here. The family has been here for most of the past seven years and four children were born in Ireland. One of the boys spent four years in Irish secondary school. The family was not familiar with Ireland's system of social protection and the father of the family worked in various odd-jobs for farmers and builders. When the jobs dried up in Ireland, the family moved to England for a short period for work. They did not find work in England and so returned to Ireland. Due to the habitual residence requirement, the father does not qualify for jobseeker's allowance nor supplementary welfare and the family cannot get on the housing list of the local authority. The father cannot pay the private rent and he is to be evicted tomorrow. When I contacted some agencies for the homeless, I learned there was no place available for this man and his family tomorrow. If children are starving and homeless, what am I doing here? What are any of us doing here?

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