Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Another day, another housing Minister. We have had Deputies Alan Kelly and Simon Coveney and now we have Deputy Eoghan Murphy. The faces are certainly changing but the policies are not. In the context of this Bill, the continual refrain we heard from all of the Ministers I have named when asked to deal with the crisis was that it was unconstitutional. Rent controls allegedly were unconstitutional, as were a ban on evictions, the acquisition of any of the 200,000 vacant units or compulsory purchase orders. None of this is true because the housing committee heard last year that the common good overrides private property. It is an excuse used by the parties that continually back landlords and the market. Tonight we are removing this excuse by proposing to remove any impediments. We have 8,000 homeless people, including more than 3,000 children, and it will be 10,000 next year, if the current Minister is still here. No statistic seems to move the Government or Fianna Fáil from this pro-market, anti-public housing position.

Fingal County Council has almost 400 homeless families in the Dublin area. Most of them reside in Dublin West, which is mine and the Taoiseach's constituency. I estimate that there could be in 1,000 homeless people in Blanchardstown alone. I say this based on the fact that between 250 and 300 of the homeless families are from Blanchardstown - I am trying to get a breakdown from Fingal County Council. They include families like the Geoghegan Kellys, who the Minister may have seen, with a premature baby who was born in the back of a van, potentially have to return and be evicted from their home. Another woman with whom I am in contact in the Blanchardstown area was homeless for ten days. She was pressured by Fingal County Council to return to a dangerous home situation. She was told that she would not get emergency accommodation unless she went to the gardaí and pursued a case. We all know that is not always possible and can sometimes put people in more danger in situations involving domestic violence. Is there no depth to the horror stories that must be told to move the Government?

Dublin West is an area that is home to many different ethnic groups, with 25% of the population having been born outside the country. People who came here 15 to 20 years ago are now becoming homeless. There is a real potential for racism to develop here and in many other areas of the country. Immigrants and Irish alike are being evicted. However, migrants have less family support, for obvious reasons, given that they are not from here. More of them are in the private rental sector so they are becoming disproportionately homeless, as happened the Irish in Britain, America and elsewhere. The most vulnerable go first. There should not be competition between any marginalised groups for housing, be they Travellers, refugees or migrant workers who live in this country. We know the situation with regard to Travellers, with money unspent by councils and we know that refugees were brought here and placed in direct provision in horrific circumstances. Solidarity says the resources exist in the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, in NAMA, which also has funds - the debt that was paid while this Dáil was not sitting could have built 50,000 public homes - and in the AIB proceeds.

There is land available, either in the ownership of local authorities or NAMA, on which to build all of the homes needed. What does not exist is the political will to do so because the market puts profit ahead of the common good.

In Dublin west, which is at the epicentre of the homelessness tsunami, there are 30 hectares of land, owned by the council, lying idle undeveloped for many years. Approximately 1,200 or, at least, 1,000 houses could be built on that land, comprising a mix of affordable homes with mortgages provided through the council and social housing. All of the councillors in that area should agree to this. Solidarity-People Before Profit will bring forth a proposal in that area and others to force the inactivity of the local authorities and the Government on this issue.

See this speech in context