Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing with Deputy Ellis.

It seems, in fairness, that the Minister made some effort to tackle the housing crisis in this plan. While a strategic plan must be forward-looking and take a long-term view, we must realise that we are in the middle of a crisis and urgent action is needed for the thousands of homeless people around the country.

What will this plan do for the person sleeping in a doorway on Grafton Street, for the woman and her children living in a hotel room, for the young couple who have separated and gone back to living with their parents because they cannot afford rent or for the young worker who is couch-surfing from Billy to Jack while trying, but failing, to find affordable accommodation, particularly here in our capital city? While these are real people, all of them are in trouble. They need some urgent action to resolve their immediate crisis situation.

The capital spending on social housing for 2017 is set to increase by €150 million and the Minister's plans will result in 6,000 social housing units per year for the next six years. The Committee on Housing and Homelessness recommendation of 10,000 social housing units a year has been undercut to the tune of 40% in this new plan. The whole point of the Dáil committee being set up was to address the seriousness of the immediate crisis that we are now in.

The reality is that housing lists are growing and the number of people in emergency accommodation is also growing, and therefore these plans are not sufficient to deal with the reality of these people's lives. There has been universal agreement - universal among all except probably the landlords - for years that one of the major factors in the homeless crisis is high rents in the private rented sector. One of the few areas where we have seen a recovery is in the sector but where is the reform of the sector? Where is the protection for the responsible tenants, paying their rent and maintaining the property well? What will prevent the landlord turning up and saying that his niece is coming to stay and the tenant must go? For many tenants, there is nowhere to go or they are being told that the property has been confiscated by the bank, which must sell it while its empty. They are put out and have nowhere to go.

In a rural constituency such as mine, the stark homelessness of the cities is not so common, but the issue of mortgage arrears is damaging the mental health and well-being of so many. The programme for Government promised many measures, such as a custom-designed mortgage court and a code of conduct on mortgage arrears, but there is no sign of them here. Considering that there are over 85,000 households in mortgage arrears, this is a disappointing omission from the housing plan.

It looks like there is a lot more to be done and what is lacking is the political will to do it. It is time that the provision of housing for the people is regarded as a social responsibility and not just a source of profit for those in the business. Housing is a human right and the social policy governing it must reflect that. Unfortunately, this strategy does not reflect that social policy element.

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