Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this Bill, which I support because I believe that new tenants should be given the same opportunity as applies under the current scheme in respect of social housing. In regard to the myth that we will have a huge influx of people looking to buy, that will not happen for the simple reason that people will first need to have the money to buy. The sale of these houses will provide councils with the funding needed to build more housing for people who need it. We should look at this proposal in a more positive way.

In regard to the current scheme, there are people in my constituency who wanted to buy their council homes but owing to the many clauses in that scheme, including that the purchaser must have X amount of income and so on, they could not do so. Many of them were approved for credit unions loans, under stringent rules, but this was not accepted. I am not suggesting the houses should be sold cheaply, rather they must be sold at a price which ensures we take in sufficient money to assist in the construction of more houses. In regard to the statement that people in Ireland are hung-up about owning their own homes, that is true. It is what we are used to. A person who buys a house with a view to renting it out does so to make money. In regard to the idea that we are on a bit of a fun trip in terms of buying houses and renting them out with a view to owning them in the future, no person buys a house to lose money on it. That is the reality. Let us live in the real world.

If we were to aspire to everybody in the country living in social housing we would never have enough money to make that happen. We need to live in the real world. If we can pull in enough money to assist us in the provision of houses for people who need them it will be a win-win situation for everyone.

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