Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an rún agus an díospóireacht seo ar an ngéarchéim tithíochta atá ar siúl faoi láthair. Ní fiú rún ná díospóireacht ná plé ar an gceist seo muna bhfuil an Rialtas chun polasaí nua a chur i bhfeidhm agus tithíocht shóisialta a bheith mar phriaracht acu.

I recall throughout the so-called Celtic tiger period, first as the sole Sinn Féin Deputy and later as the leader of our Dáil group of five, that I repeatedly pointed to the refusal of Fianna Fáil-led Governments to provide local authority homes for the growing numbers of people on the housing waiting lists of councils throughout the Twenty-six Counties. In that era the number of local authority homes constructed as a proportion of overall homes built was the smallest since the foundation of this State. We were not alone in our stand for social and affordable homes, and the Labour Party was very vocal in this regard. It was especially disappointing, therefore, to see the Labour Party in Government from 2011 continuing the very same policies that have now given us the worst housing crisis since the 1960s.

Addressing a conference on housing organised by the IMPACT trade union last Saturday, the Tánaiste spoke as if her party had only entered Government since her advent as leader. She referred correctly to the almost total reliance on the private housing rental and housing purchase sector by the previous Government but she omitted to say that the self-same policy was continued by the Labour Party in Government. In 2011 her colleague, the then Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with responsibility for housing, Deputy Penrose, published a housing policy statement which again relied on rent supplement, re-named and re-jigged as the housing assistance payment, and on the rental accommodation scheme to meet the massive need for social housing. What was absent, and what is still absent, is a comprehensive strategy and investment programme to construct local authority houses and apartments. The rent supplement scheme has poured millions of euro into the hands of private landlords. It is now in crisis, especially in Dublin, because rising rents are pricing those on rent supplement out of the housing market and into homelessness. Similarly, the rental assistance scheme has virtually collapsed.

This Government-made housing crisis is causing misery on a major scale. We have people living in overcrowded conditions, in run-down accommodation and in emergency accommodation in hotels, hostels and bed and breakfasts, sometimes with whole families in one room. Last week one of my colleagues on Dublin City Council described the plight of a family accommodated in a hotel room near the airport who have to cross the city five days a week to bring their children to school on the south side of the city. Another colleague has described the plight of tenants priced out of the market by landlords who are in NAMA. This is the same NAMA that is supposed to be releasing housing stock for social housing. Instead it is facilitating rack-renting landlords and selling off property in blocks to international speculators with no guarantee that the speculators will not sit on the property and allow prices to continue to soar before selling or renting at inflated prices.

There are reports that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government will look for a further €250 million in the forthcoming budget. While this is a considerable sum, it is not nearly enough to plug the gap left by years of Government inaction on this issue. What ratio will be ring-fenced for new council builds? Sinn Féin has been accused of fantasy economics but this lazy accusation is just to hide the fact that while the Government might have a plan on housing, it is grossly inadequate.

The most recent assessment of social housing need, published in 2013, indicated that 89,000 households were in need of housing, and of these, 44% were single person households, 30% were single persons with children and 72% of the total sourced their income solely from social welfare payments.

At the same time, the rate of house building has decreased. The most recent figures on house building from the Central Statistics Office in September of this year indicate the overall volume of residential building decreased by 8.8% between the second quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014. The number of social housing completions for the year 2013 was 504, representing 6.1% of all housing completions that year. This can be compared to 2011, when there were 1,231 social housing completions, which represented 11.7% of all housing completions. Considering rented accommodation, we see that in 2013, 17,849 private rented dwellings were inspected by local authorities, of which 9,952, or 55.8%, were found not to meet the regulatory requirements, with 2,862 improvement notices being served on landlords. The statistics on the position facing us today are absolutely shocking.

In the short time I have to complete my contribution, I wish to address a related issue, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government's fixation with a phased approach to remedial works in local authority housing schemes. One such example of this is the years of delayed completion of the remedial works at the Mullaghmatt housing estate in my home town of Monaghan. Sections of the 187-house development which dates from the early 1970s have been completed for a number of years now, while other sections are only under way after a lengthy time lapse. There still remains a body of houses to be addressed, which is only indicative of what is happening in other parts of the country; they all need proper address. The phased approach has turned this long-neglected scheme into a permanent building site, leaving some homes completely transformed while many more residents look on in envy and wonder when will their section be reached.

I know all the arguments for a phased approach but I also know the arguments for not taking this piecemeal approach. Families have had to endure for years the failure of local authorities to address the deficiencies in their home, including unsafe wiring, fractured chimney breasts, poor spoutings and draughty doors and windows. Many people complain of draughts, with colds and other ailments regularly presenting. Others, who some may say are lucky, have had their homes transformed, including outside painting and curtilage work. The contrast between the homes which have been done and those not yet seen to is considerable. There should be credit for what is done but there can be no credit for any system that allows so many languish in waiting. If we do not have a single run at such works, we need a joined up phase-after-phase approach, with all provisions in place to allow for a seamless transition from one phase to the next. The people of Mullaghmatt and all such schemes across the State deserve no less.

Accordingly, with the already signalled phases four and five yet to be reached, I appeal to the Minister and the Minister of State to familiarise themselves immediately with the remedial scheme and ensure phases four and five can be approved and taken together. The families have had to wait far too long, and there should be no gap in time between the completion of phase three and the commencement of phases four and five. I appeal to the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, in particular, as I did to his colleague, the former Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. She kindly visited the scheme in question and endeavoured to help resolve the outstanding issues. I hope these works will be stretched no more and that phases four and five will be approved as a single last push to completion. That would give the community of Mullaghmatt the estate it deserves and wants, with the peace that will come with the departure of all the paraphernalia of a building site.

Our motion seeks to put in place a real strategy for housing with investment that will see people housed, increase the housing stock of our local authorities and provide a vital boost to our economy. It makes absolute sense. It is the least that is now required to address the crisis and we demand that this Government take action in this forthcoming budget. Iarraim ar Theachtaí Dála tacú linn sa mhéid seo. Ba chóir go mbeadh pobal na tíre seo in ann glacadh leis go mbeidh tithíocht chuí ar fáil dóibh. Cinnteodh ár bplean go mbeadh an tithíocht sin ar fáil dóibh.

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