Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As this is my first opportunity to speak in this august Chamber, I wish to make note of the appreciation I have for the people who invested their trust and votes in me. I had been looking forward to the opportunity to wish the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Ó Feargháil, well. He is my constituency colleague and I was going to assure him that the constituency of Kildare South is in safe hands. However, I wish the Acting Chairman from Kildare North well.

Social stability is built from several basics, among which none is more important than having a roof over one's head. The housing crisis that has spiralled out of control in the past five years has many victims. First among these are the people who are homeless or who about to become homeless as a result of evictions, including 1,830 children, 884 families and 1,500 individuals. A total of 6,500 of these people are on the housing list in Kildare County Council and the figure is increasing by at least 100 every month. Next are those who are unable to save enough to get the 10% or 20% for a mortgage. This problem has been fuelled by high rents. For many young people starting out in life, owning a home is the first step in their future. However, under the previous Government, the dream of homeownership began slipping away from an entire generation. Under new Central Bank rules, more and more people are being frozen out of the credit market and are unable to get a mortgage to buy somewhere to truly call home. Of course, those parents who worry about whether their children will be able to find a home in their locality or community are victims as well. The previous Government did absolutely nothing to help first-time buyers who want to settle down in their home communities. Under the Government, the number of homes being built slipped to below 10,000 per year, although 25,000 per year are needed.

Social housing construction has disappeared from 15,000 per year between 2007 and 2010 to 1,500 in the past four years. This is leading to soaring rents, putting even more pressure on young people struggling to save up for a deposit.

My party believes in home ownership. Owning a home is good for families, individuals and communities. It is imperative to introduce a new first-time buyer savings scheme to help young couples save for a deposit by topping up their savings account by 25%. The average tax component of a new house purchase is 40%. We need to address the high taxation on starter homes. It is essential to call on the Central Bank to include rent in the calculations to help these young people - indeed some are not so young - trying to make ends meet while saving towards a home. We will not allow home ownership to become the sole preserve of the few. Every hard-working individual and family deserve a chance to buy their own place and make a home. The current Government is happy to let that dream fade away for most people. Communities and families will suffer from that uncertainty.

The housing crisis is one of the biggest crises to face the State in recent history. We need a Government that understands the major consequences of homelessness for families and society. However, the current housing policy being pursued by the outgoing Government is not treating this crisis with the level of emergency or priority it requires. While the number of families becoming newly homeless is at record levels, more urgent and bolder actions are needed to keep families in their homes and provide secure accommodation to families who have already lost their homes. Like all Deputies in this Chamber, I am dealing with families on a day-to-day basis who are losing their homes through no fault of their own. These people have absolutely nowhere to turn. This morning in Newbridge I was dealing with a mother who has eight children. They have lost their home and the children are being farmed out to different families. Their mother is in a house on her own, apart from them. That is absolutely no way for a family to be in this day and age. I am also dealing with another family. When times were good they decided to buy out their local authority house. Unfortunately, when times became worse the banks moved in. The banks are now taking that house are unwilling to do a deal with the local authority to buy it. Again, this case involves a mother and seven children. Under severe stress, her relationship with her partner broke up. She is left in this very difficult situation. Furthermore, her eldest daughter, who has two small children, lost her home and has had to come back to the family home. Now there are 13 adults living in a home and they are going to be made homeless.

We need a national building programme in which all primary stakeholders, including the Department, local authorities and the voluntary co-operative housing bodies, are given the resources and mandate to fast-track social home construction. They should be held to account if they do not succeed. We also need to consider providing for situations whereby the tenants of co-operative housing are allowed to buy their own homes. There is a stalemate situation at the moment. If they have the resources, the money should go into financing the transaction.

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