Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A tenant or housing applicant, on becoming involved in this scheme, is removed from the waiting list and considered to be adequately house. This was mentioned earlier by one or two Members but it has not been mentioned thus far by anybody from the caretaker Government. There has been a fundamental change in housing policy but this Government has not learned anything, in particular, that the private market cannot provide. Yes, there is an important role for the private market but it cannot provide homes for our people. That is the role of Government through the local authorities.

Members on this side of the House have been accused of ranting and raving, conflating issues and of trading on people's fears. We were also accused more recently of throwing stones. I am here as a rational woman. There is a housing crisis that is being created deliberately as a spin-off from Government policy, which is to rely on the private market. I would be delighted to work with whatever Government is chosen. We must build social housing and do so rapidly.

We need an immediate audit of all local authorities in regard to what land is zoned residential, how quickly social housing can be built and how much money is required to do so. We also need clarity on the land aggregation scheme. Land was purchased at high market values, in respect of which we are now paying a fortune in terms of interest. Some of that land was transferred to Dublin through the land aggregation scheme. There has been no mention of that today. Where is that land? How much was transferred? What did it cost to transfer and when will it be returned to the local authorities?

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