Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach called my proposal facile. I call his policy a failure. As I expected, he has come back with figures, projections and plans, none of which add up. They are a fantasy. It is a fantasy to believe that the private sector, which was responsible for the problem in the first place, will now be the solution. I am talking about local authority homes.

I refer the Taoiseach and the Minister to proposals put forward recently by the Nevin Economic Research Institute, a body funded by the trade unions. It proposed the creation of a national housing company which could borrow off the books at low rates to build 10,000 public housing units a year to be rented on the basis of the European cost recovery model and at a level to recover the initial investment but below the market rates. That would provide one third of new housing units needed per year and take pressure off the private rented sector and it would also create a mixed tenure, which the Minister has described as desirable. I remind the Taoiseach also that it is in the programme for Government.

I attended a public meeting in Inchicore last night. It was a very well attended meeting and judging by the mood and the determination of the people present, who are absolutely opposed to public land being sold or leased to private developers, they intend to develop a campaign against this policy, The Better Way campaign, and build a significant opposition to selling off our public lands. I ask the Taoiseach again to please come forward with a proper proposal to deal with the thousands of people on the housing waiting lists and those who are waiting to leave hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation.

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