Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I welcome tenants from the Tyrrelstown area who are here today to listen to the debate on housing and make their case for the Government to take action and intervene to prevent them effectively being made homeless. I object to the parameters of the debate. We are having discussions and pointless statements when we could be voting on motions to get the Minister, who is still being paid by the taxpayer, to take action. Why is this not being done? This is the most important issue in society and the country bar none. The caretaker Minister, Deputy Kelly, opened the debate. Despite the losses to the Labour Party in the general election, his demeanour has changed only slightly given the way he presented his opening remarks. However, I detect a change in Government policy, because it is talking about more State intervention being necessary to kick-start housing. This in itself is a movement from the neoliberal perspective we have had in the House for the past five years. However, it has not outlined how this will happen, when it will happen and how much will be given to councils. This crisis has been brewing for years, as others have said, and for half of the Government's tenure, and it has not taken the decisive action needed. It is interesting that the Constitution is now being cited as a barrier to progress. The Constitution gives centrality to private property and is an impediment to sorting out the housing situation and keeping people in their homes. I guarantee that if the Minister triggered a referendum, people would turn out in their droves to change the relevant clauses in our Constitution.

Why did the Government not come to the House today to do things that do not require constitutional change, such as rent controls and emergency legislation? In the previous debate, the Anti-Austerity Alliance tabled motions and amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts to prevent people being evicted on the basis of sale of a property. Now we have hundreds of tenants throughout the country facing eviction by vulture funds and many by private landlords as well. This must stop. We must stop the tide of homelessness. Nobody should be evicted because of the sale of a property.

In my remaining remarks I will focus on the Tyrrelstown situation which is huge in my constituency. My colleague, Deputy Mick Barry, will refer to Blackrock. The AAA-PBP has tabled a motion which states that 100 families are threatened by vulture funds with immediate eviction. These funds have been buying property on a large scale unhindered and encouraged by the Government, and it is now time for the Government to act. To be very clear, 100 families in Tyrrelstown would mean up to 200 adults and potentially 400 or 500 children leaving the area. It is completely untenable that people would be forced to move out of their community where they attend school, play GAA and take part in daily life. To give comfort to residents, the Government should state they should not leave their homes because of the whim of two developers who profited handsomely in the building of thousands of houses there. They absolutely must stay in their homes and fight this.

We need emergency legislation to give security of tenure to all tenants or home owners whose houses have been bought up by non-bank investment funds. We also need to get a commitment today that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister of Finance will meet tenants from Tyrrelstown, Blackrock and other areas who are immediately facing this situation to discuss how to keep people in their homes, which surely is a top priority. I ask the Minister to give this commitment today. Residents and tenants have ideas on how this could be done. The Government could commit to keeping people in their homes by acquiring these properties which are distressed or about to be sold and implementing an affordable mortgage scheme. Most of the tenants pay €1,400 or €1,500 in rent and would be well capable of paying mortgages which would be cheaper for them than the rent being charged by the developers. People who are renting must be able to continue to stay in their homes and rent them. A housing association could be established by the Government to see this is done.

The developers of this estate owe €42 million to NAMA and the State-owned AIB, which is twice what it would cost to acquire the houses. Why is this not being used as leverage by the Government to acquire these units, implement an affordable mortgage scheme and keep people renting in their homes? Will the Minister please agree to meet people and tell them not to leave their homes under pressure from two millionaires who live in a 60-acre estate and fly in and out of the area in helicopters? It is completely and utterly outrageous.

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