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

During the past week, while within the House there was the fiasco of a crisis that never should have been a crisis, life continued in the real world. Tragically, two homeless men died on the streets, one in Ranelagh on Monday night and the other outside the Four Courts. Two families came to my constituency office having been served with termination notices in respect of their homes in the private rental sector. These families are facing the nightmare of eviction and potential homelessness. One or two such families come to my office every week and it is likely that similar situations take place in the constituency offices of all Dublin Deputies. During the same week Threshold released its annual report which showed a massive increase in the number of people who were contacting it because of a fear of losing their homes, most of whom were in the private rental sector. A total of 71,000 calls were made to Threshold last year, more than double the number made in 2015. A report issued shortly before stated 40,000 homes could be built on public land that had been zoned for housing. Some 12,000 houses could be built on public land in Dublin alone. Considering that the average cost of building a home, leaving aside land costs, is between €180,000 and €200,000, the cost of building 40,000 such homes would be in the region of €7 billion to €8 billion. If that were to be done over a four to five year period, it would cost between €1.5 billion and €2 billion per year. If there was the political, the money would be found. For example, in the past three budgets income tax revenue has been reduced by some €3 billion. These tax cuts are largely irrelevant to the living standards of those on low to moderate incomes. That is not a once-off cost of €3 billion but rather the amount of State revenue that would be forgone every year. I have no doubt that people would forgo these minimal cuts in income tax in return for a serious attempt to solve the housing crisis. Another potential source of funds is the €1.3 billion that has been set aside for a rainy day. If having over 3,000 homeless children in the State is not a rainy day, I do not know what is. Perhaps the Government is saving it for a new developer or bank bailout.

The Nevin Economic Research Institute produced a report last year which outlined the potential adoption of the European cost recovery model which could be a game changer in dealing with the housing crisis. It would involve building homes to be rented at below market rates but at a sufficient amount to recover the initial investment in time. The programme for Government states expert groups should be established to consider developing a viable cost rental model for Ireland.

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, the previous Minister and the Department are all considering this. Does the Taoiseach agree it is time for them to get up off their backsides and implement a programme of public housing on public land?

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