Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The reason we have asked this question is because I have been in the Dáil for just over a year and in that time we have not had a debate on housing. I participated in the debate on the housing Bill last year but since then there has not been a debate on the biggest disaster and crisis facing the majority of people in this country.

The Taoiseach mentioned a couple of issues and said that we are unduly pessimistic. He acknowledged that measures were a bit slow to take off. Since I came to the House I have heard about Construction 2020. The Taoiseach thinks that if he keeps saying it often enough, he will convince us that houses are being built, but as in the children’s story, a child will point out that the emperor has no clothes. We can see that no houses are being built. One could ask what the 20,000 people employed in the construction sector are doing.

The Taoiseach has listed a number of measures introduced by the Government, namely, the windfall tax and the reduction in capital gains tax, and he also mentioned the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and the housing assistance payment, HAP. They are all incentives thrown in the direction of private landlords and developers to try to get them to provide housing, but they are not interested in providing housing for the people who desperately need it. They are only interested in providing housing for profit. The only people in a position to buy houses right now are people who already have a lot of money.

One could ask what NAMA is doing while all this is going on. I received figures from NAMA on Dublin 15. Is the Taoiseach and his Minister aware that not one social house is planned in the greater Blanchardstown area?

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