Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

About that; 50:50.

The Minister's contribution was extraordinary to say the least. He has to acknowledge that in the five years he has been in government the housing situation has deteriorated to the point where it is now a crisis. Every evening, 1,500 children are housed in emergency accommodation across this country. Day in, day out, families are finding themselves homeless. That is not just a statement from Fianna Fáil or from other Opposition parties. That is consistent with the views being expressed by people who are advocates for those facing homelessness or who are homeless.

The bottom line is that there is a real crisis and it is multifaceted in the sense that it is hitting many people. It is not just traditional homelessness in the context of people who may have alcohol or drug addiction problems, or other problems. Families are now finding themselves unable to meet the basic need of putting a roof over their heads, and this Government has failed abysmally in that regard. The Minister can dress up the statistics all he likes but the bottom line is that in the past five years, this Government has averaged 300 new builds per annum, not new keys, as stated by the Minister, Deputy Kelly. To give a new key one only has to change the lock. One can go down to Cunneens in Cork any day of the week and change a lock and get a new key, but that does not mean one has an extra house. The Minister is counting the changing of locks in terms of house provision. The Minister has to accept, first and foremost, that there is a problem and that the policies, or lack of policies, the Government has had for the past five years are having a profound effect on the ability of families to put a roof over their heads, and those statistics do not lie.

Ten local authorities have not built a house in the past two and a half years. The Minister can blame the local authorities all he likes but whether it is the local authorities or otherwise, the bottom line is that the policies and the resourcing being made available by this Government to local authorities means that ten local authorities failed to build a single house in that period, so it has been far from successful. All the plaudits, platitudes and self-congratulation does not take away from the fact that we have a crisis.

The motion put down by Deputy Cowen makes sense. NAMA has an obligation. It has an obligation on many fronts but the very least it should do is make available land and the cash reserves it has in the context of the provision of social housing. Home ownership and the aspiration to own one's own home is a critically important component in social mobility. It is critically important for society. The yearning and the need for a family to put a roof over their heads is a positive thing and something Irish people hold dear.

Sometimes there is dysfunctionality in the housing market and it causes huge difficulties, but the current dysfunctionality is in the context of Government policies, or lack thereof. There has been no coherent strategy since day one. When the Government came to office, it spent the first two years of its life mooching around the countryside looking for a ghost estate to knock, and it is running silly advertisements five years later. However, while it was looking for ghost estates the housing crisis in the context of a shortage of social and affordable housing grew on its watch to the alarming situation we have now where over 120,000 people across this country are on housing lists. In my city of Cork we have 8,000 alone who simply cannot access social or affordable housing of any form, and the Minister says the Government is providing new units but it is a lick of paint, a change of windows and a lock. That is not additional housing, and the Minister must accept that. As long as the Government is pretending that these restocking and refurbishments are additional housing it will never address the fundamental problem, which is that in the area of social and affordable housing there is just not enough new builds.

NAMA has a central key role, in providing 10,000 units through its cash reserves and the landbanks available to it. This would be a radical departure. It would be a radical policy that would go some way towards alleviating the housing crisis in the country. The changing of locks and the provision of a new key will not do this. The Minister of State needs to acknowledge his failure and that of the Government over the past five years in even acknowledging there was a crisis. Week in week out this has been raised in the Dáil and throughout the country by local authority public representatives and organisations advocating for people who find themselves in dire straits. In the dying throes of the Dáil there has been announcement after announcement. The Government has woken up to the fact there is a crisis, but has only made an effort to send out a few press releases and a bit of spin in the past six months. Press releases and spin do not build houses and will not put the 1,500 children who are in emergency accommodation tonight into some form of housing which is considered acceptable. The cost of the modular housing units makes no sense, when one can go to the marketplace and buy permanent housing for less than they cost. It simply shows the Government is bereft of imagination and ideas to address this.

When the Minister of State goes back over the record of the Government of the past five years and goes to the people in the coming weeks advocating what it has achieved, he should bear in mind the reason so many people find themselves without a home and unable to afford private rent is as a direct result of the policies the Government has pursued. The cap on the rent allowance is an issue which is causing homelessness. Every Deputy who spoke during the debate stated not a week goes by without people presenting at a clinic or an advice centre to state they can no longer find suitable housing or afford the housing they have. This is an indication it is having a profound impact on families earning lower rates of pay and those dependent on social welfare who qualify for rent allowance. This cap is causing huge difficulties. The Government has insisted on maintaining it, which, in itself, is driving people into homelessness. I condemn the Government's policies and the arrogant approach it has taken in this debate, because this is a positive motion which should be supported and commended.

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