Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on this Bill which is an important part of the Government's housing strategy for the years ahead. It is fair to say that we are in the midst of a housing crisis, particularly in Galway city where I live and which I represent along with the county. No facet of society is unaffected by housing, be they young couples trying to buy a house, tenants watching rents rise, retired people wishing to downsize, or the thousands in Galway city on local authority waiting lists. Every aspect of the market, both private and in social provision, is being squeezed.

We are recovering from a severe shock to the market which failed because it was not properly regulated. The market has shown that if it is left to its own devices, it is not capable of supporting or providing the social good that we expect to come from it. Housing problems are interlinked and all stem from a lack of availability. Dozens of construction companies collapsed in the crash, along with housing output. In addition, development sites were in lock-down when Namafied, and construction activity stopped.

As economic growth returned and activity was regenerated, the available stock was easily gobbled up. In Galway we have been particularly hit because the city never overbuilt and never had ghost estates. There was only one ghost estate in Galway and it has since been sorted. We are thus at the crunch end of the market. As a result, rents are going through the roof because it is not only a university city but also has an institute of technology. House prices are also going through the roof. About four years ago, a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Galway cost €175,000 or €180,000 while it is now €230,000. That is a massive price jump.

Meanwhile, waiting lists continue to grow because there has not been an increase in supply. That growth has put pressure on rent caps and leasing arrangements. Landlords who were previously in local authority leasing arrangements can now get better value in the private market. They are therefore turfing out tenants, sometimes callously, with no regard for individuals or families in those houses.

This Bill will go some way towards alleviating the situation but it is a medium-term gain that we will see. It will affect Part V when houses are built in three or four years time. It will also affect vacant sites in two or three years time when the register kicks in. A longer-term plan is needed to get Construction 2020 to work, get people building houses, and get the social housing programme up and running.

I would take issue with Deputy Ó Snodaigh because €3.8 billion has been allocated, which is the biggest investment in social housing construction in the history of the State. It was announced last year but will take time to implement and come on stream. It will also take time for local authorities to get planning permissions and building contracts in place, as well as having those units constructed for people to live in them.

We have failed to grasp that if we have a social and private housing market we should be directing it towards a goal. I am not saying that we should nationalise the housing market but we should certainly be using the levers of State to influence the outcome. We need a policy goal to determine what an average person should have to pay for a home of their own. When we know whether it should be three or four times their income in order to obtain a mortgage, we can direct housing supply, loan financing and rent controls towards that policy. We must decide what people, who do all they can through their own endeavours to provide for themselves, should be able to do to own their home.

Once we have made that decision, everything else fills out around it. Then we can say to those who cannot work or cannot get by that we will help them out either with the rent supplement or by providing a local authority house. However, if we do not have a policy that rewards those who can and do work and get up every morning to do so, we will be unable to stand over a policy that, first, realises a social market and not only a private market and, second, is a policy that we can define, follow and implement. At the moment we are chasing the market, developers, banks, rent increases and supply as opposed to leading and sticking to a policy for which we are fighting, pushing forward and directing.

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