Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Home ownership is at the heart of this Bill, which was moved by Deputy Cowen. Owning ones home is at the very core of who we are for historical reasons, which do not need to be repeated here. The dream of owning a home has gone out of the reach of many people over the past five years. Even after the announcement of the housing strategy yesterday, there is a feature in today's Irish Independent where a young mum, Paula Saul aged only 28, admitted that it was too late for her to ever own her own property. The article stated that although she is on the waiting list for a council house, Paula and her four-year old daughter are going down in the list of priority rather than up, when they were revaluated by the council. It took Ms Saul one year to find housing that would accept rent allowance. When the issue of home ownership is addressed today, it is people such as Paula Saul who are uppermost in my mind. Unless we broaden the opportunities for people to realise the dream of home ownership, we will see an entire generation for whom the dream will remain just a dream and no more. The headline that screamed out from the pages of the Irish Independentthis morning, "I'm afraid that it's already too late for me to ever own my own property", will continue for years to come.

We are trying to give people such as Paula some hope. We have to hope that the encouragement provided in the strategy published by the Minister will see a re-emergence of private construction of homes. Despite the verbal waffle of some Deputies yesterday, such that by Deputy Boyd Barrett who seems to think that storks deliver houses as nixer to delivering babies, I fully appreciate the need for a healthy construction sector if we are ever going to see the number on housing waiting lists come down.

On top of this, there is a housing crisis for people have the financial means to purchase a home because of the sheer lack of supply. Please God we will see a recommencement of construction and that we will then see Part V play an important part in the delivery of homes for those on council housing waiting lists. If that happens, why should those who availed of Part V homes be treated differently from those allocated council-constructed homes and not be allowed to purchase them at some stage in the future? Why should the dreams of people like Paula and her daughter be smashed by virtue of the category of home allocated to them?

I have listened to my constituency colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with responsibility for housing, Deputy English, speak in the Chamber about the reasons people in Part V homes are not allowed to purchase them. He explained it was because of the need to maintain a mixed tenure, but he has stated that he remains open to having his mind changed, and I hope the Minister will too if a good argument is presented. The story of that young mum in today's Irish Independentis the good reason. The young mums and dads whom I and Deputy English meet in Navan, Trim, Oldcastle and Castlepollard and all over our constituency are the good reason. There will not be a mad rush to buy up all of these homes by local authority tenants just because the option exists, so why would the Minister set his face against the idea of allowing people the option to purchase their homes? There is no need to hold firm against the idea simply because it does not sit with the primary legislation. The Minister should think of the people we all meet every week in our constituency offices and allow them to dream - allow Paula and her daughter the hope of purchasing a home. The Minister should not let that headline in the Irish Independentbe the mantra and the smashed dream for so many people. He should make the option of purchasing a home a reality and give those people a chance.

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