Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Housing is the most pressing issue this Government and country currently faces. Long before it was possible to put lots of money towards the issue, I was part of a group of Labour Deputies that was pressing for social housing to be built. What stalled everything for so long was the fact that the country was broke. It is a pity that no member of Fianna Fáil is in the Chamber to hear it, but I regret the fact that previous Fianna Fáil governments could have delivered up to 10,000 social houses. It did not deliver on them because they allowed buy-outs by developers. The situation would be a great deal eased today if those 10,000 houses had been built.

Fianna Fáil governments privatised the delivery of social housing, which was a disaster. Houses were being delivered by small, amateur landlords who had one or two houses. Unfortunately, as we know, several of them got into financial difficulty because they overstretched themselves, which they were encouraged to do by the banks. Another problem was that people were encouraged by the section 23 relief to build houses in inappropriate locations. The relief encouraged people to build houses where they were not really required and this greatly exacerbated the problem.

I welcome the fact that the Government has at last been able to put a great deal of money towards this issue. It is very important that the new incoming Government pursues the delivery of housing as rapidly as possible. It is an absolute social necessity. If housing is not delivered where it is required it will also cause damage to our growing economy. The most important reason housing needs to be delivered is its impact on people themselves. I welcome the many initiatives the Minister, Deputy Kelly and the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey have introduced to address a whole range of issues. These include the delivery of social housing, the development of the housing assistance payment, the building of modular homes and so on. There are so many things being done and they will, in time, deliver results.

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