Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will do my level best. We are all aware of the housing crisis the Government continues to preside over and of the details of the all-party Oireachtas committee on housing. This Government has been very good on announcements, particularly in the social housing area, but it has been scant and very short on delivery. It may come as no surprise to anyone that while the Government talks about building social housing, the allocation for local authority housing budgets has been cut by 7% for next year. Today, more than 2,300 children continue to live in emergency accommodation. Home repossessions continue apace and to increase because of an Act that the previous Government passed, the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act. We have not done anything to stop families going into homelessness and losing their family homes.

The lack of supply is still a very serious problem and is causing issues for house prices as well as for the rental market. As the Minister knows, the rents in Dublin and across the country are back up to 2007 levels. There is a situation right now in which a two-bedroom apartment in this city costs €1,750 per month, yet this Government expects people to be able to save a 20% deposit to buy a house. Getting on the property ladder is practically impossible, yet the Governor of the Central Bank is still refusing to do anything with the deposit rates that he has set down. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has not been able to convince him that setting a ceiling of a 20% deposit for buyers in the market is next to impossible. It is ensuring that families, and young families in particular, are unable to get onto the housing market.

For a €400,000 house, the standard price of a house in Dublin, if one is lucky enough to find one, a person will require an €80,000 deposit, yet the Government has failed to persuade the Governor that changes are required. The announcement in budget 2017 of the first-time buyer's grant initiative will do nothing but push up prices further. The issue of supply has not been addressed. Why would a builder or developer currently selling houses at €400,000 not increase the price? The Government has given them a blank cheque and those who will suffer are those who cannot afford to buy a house. That is why the issue needs to be addressed urgently. Is the Minister and the Government at all concerned about the impact the initiative will have on house prices? Will the Minister confirm if an impact analysis was carried out by the Government of how the initiative would affect house prices? If an impact assessment was carried out, will the Government publish it in order that it can be debated in this House?

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