Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The fire sale of NAMA properties should also be immediately stopped, as this has the potential to further add to the homeless crisis. Local authorities should be given first option on empty State lands and buildings which could then be used for accommodation. A total of 2,600 council houses lie vacant in every town and village across Ireland as well as thousands of empty buildings, retail and office spaces which could be converted quickly into accommodation and would also revitalise the areas. Additionally, Dublin City Council has enough land zoned for housing to build 29,300 units over almost 300 ha. Space is going to waste. We call on the Government to take immediate action to ensure these lands are redeveloped. We propose reintroducing the financial contribution scheme for those over the age of 55, which would also provide for a contribution to be retained for future social housing need and initiatives. Currently, hundreds of applications are waiting to be processed in Dublin City Council alone which would release much needed housing. The Government presided over the reduction of the Part V social housing provision in the recent housing Bill. However, we propose that the social and affordable housing provision be reinstated to the original level of 20%.

The motion addresses the issue of mortgage arrears, which is destroying the lives of thousands of people across this country. Many of those who bought property during the so-called boom years are not immune to the crisis as mortgage interest rates soar in tandem with evictions. Sinn Féin calls on the Government to introduce emergency legislation to cap mortgage interest rates to stem the flow of homeowners into severe mortgage arrears.

We believe that greater State investment in social housing would have obvious benefits for people seeking to buy in the private market as it would relieve overall pressure on the housing sector.

We call on the Dáil to commend charitable organisations, community groups and housing agencies like Threshold, the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust and the Private Residential Tenancy Board, PRTB, for the work they do every day to help people in this time of crisis. With this Bill we call on the Government not only to ensure the availability of funding to housing organisations but to ensure provisions are made to expand and extend Threshold’s tenancy protection service to Galway, Limerick, Wicklow, Meath and Kildare. This crisis affects each of our major cities and is now hitting our towns and villages.

Housing in rural Ireland currently presents problems, particularly for young people who are not only finding it difficult to get a mortgage to buy existing housing but who also find the cost of building a house substantial. This has resulted in population concentration in urban centres, which puts more pressure on the housing sector. Therefore, we propose that the Government re-examine the feasibility of rural resettlement.

The economic crisis has seen unprecedented numbers of domestic abuse survivors coming forward to seek support. We call on the Government to ensure funding is available to refuges that house survivors of domestic abuse.

Every person in Ireland has the right to quality housing, regardless of income, age, economic or other affiliation or status, and has a right to freedom from discrimination in housing. Minority groups such as Travellers have the same rights. We propose that housing should be a right not a privilege and enshrined in our Constitution, of which the Constitutional Convention took a similar view.

Every citizen of this island has the right to security of tenure,guaranteeing legal protection against forced eviction, harassment or other threats. This measure should be in place regardless of what kind of tenure the tenant is bound by. Every person has the right to housing of a standard that protects them from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats to health, including harassment. All tenants have a right to repair of housing. Disadvantaged groups - the elderly, children, people with disabilities and lone parents - have a right to affirmative action in housing. This Government has failed in all these areas and lives have been put at risk. We call on all Deputies of every persuasion to support our Private Members' motion and to acknowledge that this crisis is impacting on a huge segment of our population - on men, women and children.

The Minister announced a major house-building programme almost a year ago, involving an expenditure of €3.8 billion, €2.5 billion of which was to be allocated over the first three years and €1.3 billion was to be allocated over the next three years. What has happened in the year since he announced that programme? What has been delivered? Very little has been delivered.

The Minister also made a commitment that he would end homelessness by 2016. We now have a major crisis. He should be ashamed that he made that commitment in the first place.

I have been meeting people affected by this crisis. I received a telephone call from a woman last night who had her grandchild and her daughter with her and they had to go back to one of the hotels across the town. The child was roaring crying, she would not move, she did not want to go and could not handle the situation. The effects this is having on our children is massive. I have never in my life seen a crisis like this one. I have been a member of Dublin City Council since 1999 and have served as a Deputy since 2011 and I have never seen the likes of what we are facing now.

We are a wealthy country. It is not as though we are not. We were building social housing in the 1960s and 1970s. We are failing the communities and failing the people. I call on the Minister to support our motion and not to make mealy-mouthed promises but to start delivering on what we need because we are in a major crisis.

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