Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Tá an Comhaontas Glas fíorshásta tacaíocht a thabhairt don rún seo. This motion here today calls on the Government to exercise its powers under the Constitution to tackle this unprecedented crisis in housing and homelessness in our country. Yesterday the European Committee of Social Rights published a decision delivered in May of this year in the case of the International Federation of Human Rights v. Ireland, concluding that Ireland violated Article 16 of the Revised European Social Charter due to its "unsatisfactory protection against poverty and social exclusion of persons living in local authority housing estates". This is a damning indictment of our country. This case was taken in 2014 in respect of substandard State housing. What this decision really highlights is how this Government has failed the family unit, which is protected under Article 16 of the revised European Social Charter. It is not just in respect of substandard buildings that this Government fails the family unit. Children and families who are now homeless are suffering, and their health, well-being and education are being adversely affected.

How many people must be homeless for the Government to recognise that this is an unprecedented emergency? Will it be the fact that there are now 3,000 children without a place to call home? Are 1,429 homeless families, a rise of 25% in the last year, not enough? We need homes for these families, not hubs. Surely it is way past time, for the Government to declare a housing and homelessness emergency. The Green Party is happy to support this motion and commends Deputy Healy on bringing it before the House.

The Government lacks vision and strategic planning when it comes to the scale of the housing and homelessness crisis which severely affects the most vulnerable in our society. It is time for the Government to view housing as a human right and one that must be enshrined within our Constitution. In the past four years there have been four Ministers with responsibility for housing. This is indicative of the Government's track record and shows the level of genuine intent, level of priority and respect for the role of this Ministry which is at the centre of the biggest crisis of our time. There has been no continuity, no stability and no appropriate demonstration from this Government of the level of priority and real action the crisis clearly and urgently needs.

In the recent budget, in seeking to do a little for everyone, the Government ended up doing nothing significant for anyone. It did very little for some of the most vulnerable in our society, those who are without a home and those who are trying to deal with an unsustainable and unaffordable property market. These are people whom the State is failing and leaving on incredibly long housing lists or in an unaffordable housing market with skyrocketing house prices and forced to rent without any security of tenure.

The recent announcement by the Government of its intention to increase the vacant site levy is to be welcomed. However, it is a shame that earlier this year, in February, when my Green Party colleague, Senator Grace O'Sullivan, introduced the Derelict and Vacant Sites Bill in the Seanad, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael chose to vote against it. I welcome the Government's recognition now that this increase is needed, but it still demonstrates this Government's lack of ambition and its inability to do anything other than take minute steps to tackle big problems as this increase will not come into full force until at least 2019. The budget could have seen a shift to focusing on a cost-rental model of local authority building.

Instead, the Government is continuing with its outdated logic that the private market alone can fix the crisis in housing and homelessness. In the words of former Chief Secretary in Dublin Castle, Thomas Drummond in 1838, "property has its duties as well as its rights". Our Constitution is quite strong in recognising property rights but it also recognises the need of the common good to be served, which must prioritise the needs of those most vulnerable in our society. Unfortunately, this Government does not seem to recognise or be willing to act on that fact. It is absolutely unacceptable that the lack of real action we have seen from this Government continues. The Green Party will support this motion to show that the Dáil not only recognises the scale of the problem but the urgent and pressing need to take immediate and effective action.

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