Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

One of the important parts of the motion, which is included in our amendment as well, is to call this a national emergency and to declare a national emergency. I put that in all seriousness to the Minister. The type of dramatic, radical action that is necessary is simply not forthcoming. We talk about tweaking Rebuilding Ireland.

While some of the measures the Minister has announced may make a difference, they will not address the fundamental crisis we face. The key to resolving this issue is to embark on an emergency programme of direct council housing construction on a much more significant scale than that proposed by the Minister. The delivery of 3,000 council houses and 5,000 so-called social housing units next year will not cut it because it will be a drop in the ocean, especially in light of the number of new people who will be added to the housing list in the interim and over the coming five-year period.

I asked the Minister's officials for figures on the number of new applicants for housing in recent days. I have still not received them and I would like to get them. The figure of 91,000 people on the housing list was, I believe, provided just after the list had been the subject of a major cull. I also believe that the number of families on the housing list is significantly higher than the official figure suggests. The increased number of applications that will be received must be factored into the Government's calculations.

Against this background, Rebuilding Ireland proposes that 21,000 new homes will be constructed directly by councils or approved housing bodies, with the remainder consisting of refurbishments and so forth. Under Rebuilding Ireland, the vast majority of new homes will be provided under the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, the housing assistance payment, HAP, and leasing arrangements. The final target, based on the Government's reliance on the private sector, exceeds 90,000. As I have stated to the Minister and his predecessors for years, this target will not be realised and even if it were, it would not deliver secure social housing.

One of the many cases I am dealing with involves a couple with eight children - they have another child on the way - who are housed in a hotel in Shankill. Before the Minister decides to move the family to a hub in town, he must not do so because they do not want to move into town. The children go to school in Shankill and the family should not be moved out of the hotel unless a council house is available. They have been told by the council to find their third RAS or HAP tenancy, which is a joke given that there are eight children. They are at breaking point, yet they are being told they have no chance of securing a council house any time soon. The housing assistance payment will not cut it for this family.

Even if the Government achieves its target, the HAP scheme will cost between €800 million and €1 billion per annum in payments to private landlords. Further, it will provide housing that is not secure or permanent and will not deliver the type of social housing that would resolve the problem.

Against this background, the Minister continues to speak of public private partnerships. Under PPPs, up to two thirds of public land and housing stock, all of which could be public, will be flogged off. The Minister refuses to take emergency measures to acquire housing units that are lying vacant. The Central Statistics Office has provided a figure of 180,000 vacant housing units. Even if the figure is only 10% of that, it would still mean 18,000 units were vacant. Where is the emergency legislation to get these units into the system and provide housing for people on the housing list? It is not forthcoming.

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