Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion. Since the Government came into office, there has been a series of crises in our society, including a health crisis, a jobs crisis and now a housing crisis. This is part of the wider social crisis emerging as a result of an austerity-led coalition obsessed with investing in the private sector for cheap jobs and not investing in its own citizens.

On an individual level, housing problems are the sum total of a person's own issues mitigated by the lack of protection afforded to them by authorities in a position to assist. On a Government level, it is a failure to govern that leaves people to their own devices on the streets. The streets are becoming homes to too many people, too many families and, tragically, too many children. It is no longer a housing crisis; it is a housing emergency that affects nearly every person in this country. Housing in Ireland is not meeting the needs our society, which says a lot about the cumulative effects of the coalition's policies.

The Government's response to all of this has been hypocritical. It has refused to intervene in the market as it upheld its position as the guardians of neoliberalism, while we are soon to face legislation which seeks to intervene in the market. This is a short-sighted idea that will intervene on a minimal level and will do nothing to relieve the housing crisis without a stream of packages to support it. The Government's solution is to freeze rents for two years. This short-sighted initiative has resulted in landlords hiking up rent even further, as recently highlighted in a daft.iereport. It is also proposed that landlords who deceive tenants into leaving a property in order to rent the property for a higher amount are to be given a €3,000 slap on the wrist. Do we seriously think that this Government will target landlords who do this? This is a cynical attempt to address the emergency, with no sense of urgency attached.If this is the best the Government can do after months of a public spat between the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and a tug-o-war between the coalition partners, how can the public have any faith in it to deliver a solution to the housing crisis?

The Government has also established a suspicious grouping within the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government called the social housing clearing house group to address the funding issues around the provision of social housing on a cross-departmental level. The group is to examine and consider proposals from companies, groups and institutions with a vested interest in this issue. If that does not sound dodgy enough, the group is a sub-group of the finance work stream which forms part of the governance structures of the Social Housing Strategy 2020. The group is chaired by a senior official from NAMA and comprises officials of the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, the Housing Agency, Dublin City Council and the National Economic and Social Council. Following a call for submissions, 24 proposals in relation to the provision of social and affordable housing were presented by financial institutions, developers, fund managers, financial service providers, approved housing bodies and others. Among the bodies that presented was the Dublin Artisan Dwelling Fund. When one undertakes a search of that name on the Internet, the only reference one finds is a reference to a housing programme in Dublin city in the 1870s. Another body is named Bartra Capital. Despite the fact it was only incorporated in August of this year, it was invited to present to the clearing house group as if it were an institution that had some great proposals around the funding of social housing provision.

A proposal from the Irish League of Credit Unions to assist with financing of the social housing provision by using up to €2 billion of the deposits credit unions have with the banks was not considered by the Department. One is obliged to wonder what are the Government's priorities when it comes to providing housing. It seems reasonable to suggest that the reason the proposal was not even considered was that the Government did not want to see €2 billion coming off deposit with the banks because of the impact that might have on their capital provision.

Despite the excuses from the Government, there are several measures which could be taken immediately to address the crisis. For example, a simple temporary measure to stave off any increase in homelessness over the winter months would be to raise housing assistance payment levels to adequately reflect the reality of private rental costs. More than 2,500 people are on the waiting list in Donegal and there is a huge lack of properties available to rent within the limits of the scheme. In many parts of the county, there are no properties at all which could be availed of by those in receipt of HAP or rent supplement.

Another measure that could be taken without delay would be to encourage local authorities to establish a housing association that would cover the whole local authority area. This would allow councils to access borrowing that would be off the balance sheet, to use that famous phrase the Government is always employing. Local authorities already have the staff, including engineers, architects and clerks of works, and the resources to finance and deliver a housing programme. I have been in contact with the Donegal county manager to discuss that option but, unfortunately, there has not been a positive response. There is no reason that Donegal County Council could not participate in such a scheme other than that it simply does not want to put in the effort or the Government will not allow it.

It is imperative that the Government should take the rights of citizens to housing seriously by enshrining the establishment of those rights within the Constitution. I am speaking here about economic, social and cultural rights. Earlier this year, I brought a Bill before the House which sought to protect such rights. Even though the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, has a similar Bill on the legislative programme, my proposal was shot down by the Government. For a county like Donegal, where hundreds of repossession cases are being processed by the courts, a constitutional right to housing would mean any housing strategy drawn up by the Government would need to reflect that right. It does not mean the Government would have to buy everyone a house and bankrupt the country, as has been suggested by some Members opposite. It would oblige the Government to be more accountable in its policies, thereby ensuring austerity policies will never again target a specific sector or type of individual. Such provisions have worked in other countries like Portugal and South Africa and certainly have not bankrupted them. The Labour Party tried to introduce similar Bills in the past, before it went into government. Its Members cannot claim the proposal before us this evening is not a legitimate response to a housing crisis, let alone a housing emergency. This Bill would enshrine the right to housing in a way that could be vindicated on behalf of all our citizens.

See this speech in context