Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As a newly elected Deputy, I regret that today's discussion on housing and homelessness will not lead to any action. Nobody who is homeless tonight will get a house on foot of what we have been doing in this House today. I agree with Deputy O'Brien's suggestion that the Dáil should sit for three days this week, but that is not happening, unfortunately.

The Moyross area of my constituency of Limerick City was once distinguished for having some of the finest public housing in the State in terms of design, comfort and overall quality. The neighbouring area of Ballynanty, where I was born and raised, was another area well known for good housing and a strong sense of community. Unfortunately, many of the houses in Moyross have been demolished as part of the so-called Limerick regeneration programme. Incidentally, and by way of tragic irony, this programme has been responsible for the demolition of many more houses than it has built. I cite these examples as testimony of the fact that in much poorer times, this State was able to provide houses and homes for most of its citizens. In years gone by, the State had a clear policy of providing public housing. The rate of homelessness in this State is truly appalling. We know many of those affected by this crisis because we grew up with them or went to school with them. Some of them are friends of ours. The failure of the State to provide adequate housing for its people has been accompanied by a failure to resource homelessness services properly. As a result, more and more people are living on our streets or wherever they can find shelter. All of this is happening in a supposedly modern and civilised European democracy.

The dire situation around housing and homelessness must be one of the major priorities of this Dáil and any incoming Government. The need to begin building houses on a scale that is adequate to meet the crisis that exists is of crucial importance. My party has published properly researched and costed proposals to deal with this crisis. Our policy could deliver 100,000 new social and affordable houses, deliver security and certainty for tenants and support home owners and buyers. All of us should be open to serious suggestions on how to deal with this crisis. In this context, I believe the recent offer made by the Irish League of Credit Unions to establish a housing fund of more than €5 billion is worthy of serious consideration. There has been an over-reliance on the private sector to provide housing on the scale needed. This has resulted in the State almost retiring from the direct provision of housing. This ideologically-driven approach has proved disastrous. It has failed to provide the required amount of housing and has driven up prices in the private rental sector to an extent that leaves many people unable to avail of this option. The housing and homelessness crisis is nothing short of a national scandal. If we fail to tackle it as public representatives, and if the current charade of political posturing for short-term gain continues, we will do a grave disservice to those who have placed their trust in us.

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