Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I listened carefully today to the speeches of the Minister and the Taoiseach on housing. I note the Taoiseach talked about this new housing initiative and dramatic moves that we could take. Of course, it has to be asked why we did not end homelessness in the 31st Dáil and why we did not proceed with fairly dramatic attempts to increase the supply of social housing. That is an unanswerable question. It is related to the disastrous economic policies which were followed over the past five years by the Fine Gael-Labour Government.

I proposed a Department of housing 18 or 20 years ago because in some respects we have always had some kind of housing crisis. We have always been short of social housing, particularly in the Dublin area, especially after the Ahern-Haughey Administrations stopped the production of large-scale social housing and left us with the kind of situation which emerged from the crash of 2008 where we simply did not have the supply of housing coming forward, and we have never recovered that. The very least we need is a Department of housing.

Many Deputies referred to the most recent data from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, with 500 families and 1,600 children in this city living in hotel rooms tonight under all kinds of difficult circumstances. It is intolerable. The Minister had the chance on many occasions to simply end homelessness by taking the necessary dramatic steps which he refused to take. It is very much a Dublin-oriented situation. This House has failed the people of Dublin, particularly those who have depended on social housing, and has simply ignored the needs of this region.

I have called repeatedly, as the Minister will be aware, for us to have FEMPI-type legislation in this area. As the Ceann Comhairle will be aware, we were prepared to come in here at all hours in the 30th Dáil to introduce all kinds of legislation to shore up banks, to protect banks, to protect bottom lines, to reward bondholders, etc., all of which I opposed consistently all the way through. The Minister had the opportunity, as the Taoiseach had, to have taken similar steps in housing, but the Minister has refused to do so. The Minister could have taken over all empty NAMA properties and all hoarded building land, and made those properties available while starting an immediate large building programme.

We heard earlier today some criticism of large social housing estates in the Dublin region. It has to be said though that, generally speaking, until we had very bad architecture in the 1980s those estates worked very well. In fact, they are the backbone of my constituency. They are the homes of the people who sent me and the other four Deputies of Dublin Bay North to this House. We need to build like that again. We need, in my constituency alone, two or three parishes of social housing amounting to 10,000 or 15,000 units. We need it yesterday but, unfortunately, the outgoing Minister has not delivered in that regard.

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