Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach said that the Cabinet committee on Construction 2020, housing, planning and mortgage arrears met six times over the past 12 months. He might indicate whether he agrees that far greater frequency was required given that he had originally insisted that everything was in hand in respect of the housing crisis, especially in respect of housing supply and household debt.

The Taoiseach must accept that he was denying the facts until the figures reached crisis levels. There has been a 246% increase in the number of homeless families in Ireland. Over 1,000 children are in emergency accommodation in Dublin alone. We met with representatives of the Simon Community two months ago who were alarmed at the crisis in homelessness among children in particular and were very concerned about a potential fatality emerging in that area. Over the weekend we read that there has been a 30% increase in rental prices since 2010 in the Dublin area. I was on the streets of Dublin last week talking to people in various housing estates who told me of the extraordinary cost of rent which is prohibitive for many families and which is causing an enormous housing crisis.

The Cabinet committee is not doing its work. It is the driving force behind pretending to be doing something on housing but is missing its basic targets. In March, for example, the Government announced that 1,400 social housing units would be built by the end of this year. In recent weeks that target was shifted and the Government announced that 1,700 social housing units would be built by the end of 2017. In April we learned that there was a 60% fall-off in commencements of one-off dwellings in 2014 and a 25% drop in commencements generally. I ask the Taoiseach to explain what has happened and why the promises the Government made only a few months ago have already been abandoned.

Does the Taoiseach accept that the devastating impact of the mortgage arrears crisis is becoming worse by the day? The latest figures show a 50% increase in the number of enforcement cases being lodged with the courts. The Government's decision to allow the banks to control the entire process has been a complete failure, as has only been belatedly acknowledged by the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach. The Government has failed to take any measures at all to deal with that fundamental fact. The banks have taken State money and the low interest rates currently available but they continue to exploit mortgage customers in every way possible. Will the Government reverse that policy? Has the Cabinet committee considered giving an independent agency full control over this mounting crisis? At the heart of the flawed approach the Government took to the personal insolvency legislation and to mortgage arrears generally, in terms of any resolution mechanism, is the fact that the banks were in the driving seat and had a veto. For some reason, the Government has refused to dilute that veto.

Notwithstanding the fact that the aforementioned committee has met six times, the problem is becoming worse by the day. It is not just me saying that, organisations with long experience in the area of homelessness, like the Simon Community, Focus Ireland and others are saying that the homelessness crisis is appalling. It is alarming in terms of potential fatalities that could arise from the fact that so many children are living in hotel rooms in Dublin and across the country. Urgent action is required in that regard. The rent situation is crazy. The increases in rent and the decision to cap or reduce the rent allowance have had an appalling impact on low income families and reduced their capacity to secure suitable housing. In fact, the rent allowance is so out of touch with market rates that many cannot utilise it, with many landlords refusing to entertain it.

The aforementioned are key areas for the Cabinet committee which must meet far more frequently and must become far more effective in its interventions.

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