Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I suppose if there was some bit of advice I would give to my Fianna Fáil colleagues across the House, it is that they should restrict their Private Members' motions to matters on UFOs and extraterrestrial life because their former Ministers walk in here as if the party has just landed on earth. Theirs is the party that was expert in building houses, except it built them in places where nobody wanted to live. Their party completely misled tens of thousands of construction workers to the point that it was telling them about soft landings, and they misled young families in the same way. They now come in with bleeding-heart talk about it, as if they were going to do something for those families after landing them in this crisis. The party has no credibility.

I listened to the former Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, talking about rural areas. He was part of a Government that decimated rural areas with housing policies and with the way it carried on. He was also part of Government when I was here listening, in 2006, to a Minister talking about people wanting to own not only one house, but two, three and four houses. They ratcheted it up and caused the crisis and now they are acting as if they were never part of it in the first place.

Even when they were talking like that, in 2005, there were still 45,000 applicants on the social housing list. Even though it peaked at 90,000, that was still a considerable number of applicants on the housing list at the time when Fianna Fáil was talking about everything being so rosy in the garden.

It is on the back of that where the Government has had to make such significant changes. That is why there is now in place a proper strategy, the Social Housing Strategy 2020. There will be investment of at least €3.8 billion, which will lead to 35,000 new homes.

There are now 7,000 more working in construction which is a fantastic improvement, and 11,000 more new homes were built in 2014, an increase of 30% in one year. Some 40,000 residential properties changed hands in 2014. That is such a change, and something positive for thousands of families right across the country.

There is still considerable pent-up demand for apartments and houses and that is the reason we need to have a clear strategy on this. We are lucky in the sense that this has happening to some degree because it indicates that matters are finally improving in this country, that Ireland is back, that there is demand for jobs in the capital city and in Cork city, and there is a need for us to have a clear approach to how we plan providing housing, both social and private, for the future. I am glad to say this is a Government that takes its responsibility seriously. It is not a Government that will merely ratchet it up and create another cycle of disaster for this country like what happened in the past.

There is significant supports being given to people right across this country. It is amazing. Listening to some of the Opposition so far, one would swear nothing was being done. Some €300 million in rent supplement alone is a significant amount. That is positive for those who are in receipt of it. It is something we are protecting to try and keep borrowers in their own homes as much as we possibly can.

The Minister of State did not quite get the opportunity to highlight the positive matters that he was talking about. I reiterated some of them, such as the new residential houses that went on the market in 2014, where there was a significant increase. There is so much more that is so positive, in both this year's and last year's budget. It is also important that we are bringing out legislation on the issues around planning to ensure the land banks are used properly. There is considerable potential, even in the capital city, to build so many more new homes. NAMA has been directed to ensure that it gets houses onto the market and develops the houses that will give the potential to provide so many new homes in the capital city. There is, maybe, a need for us to do more and for us to do it faster but we at least are working to a clear plan, and that should be commended. I commend the amendment to the House.

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