Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach set out his targets yesterday when he spoke in the House on the subject of 20,000 builds in 2018, 5,000 of those for local authorities, acquisitions or Part V builds. He reiterated that it is the Government’s intention to use the local authorities more in the provision of housing. Will the Minister explain today what that means in real terms and where, specifically, those 5,000 homes will be delivered, in particular, the 3,800 direct builds? Will they be completed units in 2018? Will they be in areas with high pressures on council housing waiting lists? I look at County Meath with a population of some 200,000, a commuter belt county which has huge housing, social and employment pressures, with 5,000 people on social housing waiting lists, 1,500 of those in my home town, Navan. If the Taoiseach's words of using local authorities are true, how will this work in Meath, whose problems in adjoining Dublin are pronounced?

Meath County Council owns one undeveloped field in the entire county. This 22-acre site has been earmarked for development under the activation fund. The price bill for these 42 units, which is on the Minister’s desk awaiting approval, is €13 million. This works out at €310,000 per unit, a good €100,000 above what it should be because the reimbursement to the council for the site acquisition is factored into this. This has taken over a decade to get to this point and it comes with a price tag of €13 million.

If this is a prime example of what is happening in commuter counties like Meath for a mere 42 homes, how realistic is the 3,800 nationwide target? How is the Department helping counties like Meath, Kildare and Wicklow to acquire land for social housing? The basic commodity to provide homes, a point forgotten by many in this Chamber, is land in locations where people want to live and which is beside schools, amenities and shops. When I look at this case in Navan, I know this is it because there is no more land owned by local authorities. They need help in identifying strategic sites.

Last Thursday, Sinn Féin made remarks about not reducing tax. This is quite a statement considering every Sinn Féin councillor has sought to reduce property tax by 15% in the year and remove millions of euros from councils, money which could be spent on housing. Will Sinn Féin stop the double-talk and the spoof? If Sinn Féin has a policy principle of not giving people back a few measly euro, as Deputy McDonald said, but keeping it for public services, that is fine and admirable. However, Sinn Féin Members cannot think they are fooling anyone with that on the one hand while also sticking up posters claiming Sinn Féin councillors are the only ones who will cut the tax and expect the books to balance. They simply will not. Sinn Féin Members need to be honest with themselves and the public. They all need to write to Santy for Christmas to get calculators and learn how to use them because the books do not balance.

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