Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Darragh O'Brien and I wish him well in his role as Fianna Fáil spokesperson on housing and on the motion tonight.

Did the Minister say that there have been nine Ministers with responsibility for housing? Was it uimhir a naoi or were there six or seven Ministers? We talk about Charlie McCreevy's dirty dozen of tax cuts, but these housing Ministers are the useless six or seven, or whatever it is. The Government talks and talks but it will not walk the walk. It has promised housing but every figure that the Minister, Deputy Murphy, brings out and every statistic in print that has been predicted or suggested has failed miserably.

With regard to policy, back through the decades Fine Gael was never good at building houses. Houses were built under Fianna Fáil governments when there were no cranes or such equipment. Fine Gael never built them because it is not interested in the small people, na daoine beaga. It was only interested in the big landlords with daffodils up and down the drive and the twisted boreen or laneway going up. It was "To hell with the people". The policy is quite clear; the Government does not want to house people. It tells us about all the money it gives to the councils, but the council tells us that it does not have the money. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae has said that the council does not have money for demountable homes and for many other things.

Nothing has changed. The figures are being massaged, managed and manicured to lead people to believe the Government. In Dublin tonight there are 30 pregnant mothers who are homeless, yet the Government wants to bring in abortion. That would get them off the lists. Has the Government lost its way completely? Or maybe it has not lost its way and it is a carefully laid plan not to house these people or allow them to build houses. They will not allow people to build houses in the country. I know of at least 12 young couples who have the wherewithal, the money and the site but they cannot get planning permission. Any way they go they cannot get housing. There is some plan greater than we can crack as to why the Government will not house people or allow people to house themselves with dignity.

It is great that we have so many people who want to get on an affordable scheme so they are not demanding a house from the State. They want to pay, get an affordable scheme and get a loan but the Minister will not do it. He refuses to do it in spite of all the work done by Fr. Peter McVerry and all the other organisations. There are many organisations also in Tipperary, from Carrick-on-Suir to Clonmel and from Tipperary town to Thurles and Nenagh. Voluntary groups have delivered. Last week I attended a launch on what the voluntary sector intends to build. They have done this under Dr. Donal McManus and the Irish Council for Social Housing and the other agencies. They can do it. People can do it if the Minister would let them get planning. The Government will not do this and it is a mockery. There were 11 houses built in Tipperary over five or six years. It was not even two houses per year. It is a joke.

It is time the Minister copped on, stepped up to the plate and came clean with the people. He must tell people why he will not house them. We have more than 3,100 approved applicants on the housing waiting list in Tipperary. There are 10,000 people looking for houses. It is the same story up and down the country but the Minister brings out this report and that report. If reports could build houses we would have houses galore. Consultants and everyone else get paid to compile these reports, do grand launches and turn sods, but then nothing happens. There is something seriously wrong with the Government and the people will tell the politicians this when they go back for votes. It is time the Government delivered something other than spoof and talk.

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