Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The reason we are asking the Taoiseach about the frequency of the meetings of the Cabinet sub-committee on housing and mortgage arrears is because this is the most serious crisis facing our citizens and the entire economy. However, there seems to be no sense of urgency from the top of Government as to how bad the situation is. It is no exaggeration to say we are at the edge of and heading right into the eye of a storm that will rip apart the lives of tens of thousands of families and children and now represents a serious threat to the economy as a whole.

Today, the Central Bank produced a report which states the rise in property and rental prices across the whole commercial and property sectors is a major domestic threat to the economy, probably the major domestic threat. At a human level, the situation is beyond appalling. I am not exaggerating when I say that every day and week a trail of families relate heart-breaking family stories in my clinic, and I know the situation is the same for other Deputies. The stories go on and on and it is evident from them that the crisis is reaching further and deeper into society. Every spectrum of society is affected. Students have to share accommodation with strangers because they cannot get accommodation. Families and children are being evicted because landlords are seeking higher rents and now dozens and hundreds of them face homelessness. We are moving towards a situation where thousands of people face the same fate. The situation is disastrous and getting worse.

The Government is not even scratching the surface in terms of its response. I do not have time to go into the figures, but as I have pointed out on a number of occasions to the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, who is sitting beside the Taoiseach, the targets are a mirage and will not materialise, because the Government hopes to get 80% of the social housing it proposes to deliver this year from the private sector. That is not going to happen. Figures released this week show there are 10,000 extra families a month seeking private rented accommodation. These are people who are working, but even on average wages, they have extreme difficulty sourcing affordable accommodation. They cannot buy and are completely crowding out anybody on a low income or who is social welfare dependant.

Therefore, the idea that local authorities will source the necessary social accommodation from private landlords or developers is fantasy. Any serious look at the figures makes this clear. The target for 2015 is 15,800 units. Some 8,400 of these are due to come through HAPs to private landlords, some 3,000 are to come through leasing from private landlords and some 2,000 are to come through RAS, again through private landlords. Therefore, we are not delivering social housing. We are not delivering council housing. We are hoping against hope that we will get the housing from private landlords, when all of the evidence shows that private landlords are moving away from people on low incomes who are dependent on rent allowance and social welfare. The private landlords are looking for high prices, which are unaffordable, even for people on medium earnings.

A three bedroom apartment in south Dublin now rents for from €1,500 to €1,800. The average net after tax income for a worker is approximately €2,400 per month. Therefore, people are expected to pay two thirds of their income to put a roof over their head, leaving them with very little to pay the rest of their bills. This is the case for people on the average income, €35,000 a year. Imagine what it is like for somebody who is social welfare dependent, dependent on rent allowance or for someone on a low income or working in Dunnes Stores. Paying such a rent is not possible. The purpose of our questions is to appeal to the Government to get into emergency mode on this issue. As the Taoiseach rightly said, bricks and mortar must follow. At this point, this must be done by the State. Otherwise, we will not even get close to the targets. If the Government depends on the private sector, it will not happen.

Rent control must be introduced as a matter of urgency. Based on the figures of 10,000 extra people moving into the private rented sector and the chronic shortage of accommodation, one does not need to be Einstein to work out that rents will continue to rocket. They have already risen by 20%. We will face a catastrophe in six months' time. Rent controls, not rent certainty, must be introduced now so that rents will be related to the ability of people to pay them. If the Government does not introduce rent control, it is consigning people directly into homelessness. I appeal to the Taoiseach to get into emergency mode. We did it for the liquidation of IBRC. I plead with him to do it for the most urgent social crisis facing the State.

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