Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

The hypocrisy in the House tonight is absolutely breathtaking. The Fianna Fáil Party abolished the local authority public house building programme and handed it over to the private market. The Fine Gael Government since 2011 embraced the abolition of the public housing programme and embraced the privatisation of the housing programme. It has made matters worse ever since. The Labour Party representative, who spoke earlier, introduced the infamous housing assistance payment scheme, which gave hundreds of millions of euro to landlords while condemning ordinary families to an existence. It is an existence because when a person has paid rent to the local authority and the huge top-up to the landlord, he or she does not have two cents to rub together at the end of the week. Any little thing that might get in the way such as an illness, a communion, a confirmation or a death throws a family into poverty and into the hands of moneylenders.

When did we last have nearly 10,000 people homeless? When did we have people dying on our streets? We have that now because this Government of Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance, supported by Fianna Fáil, has embraced the private market in the building of public housing. That has created a major crisis. It has in fact created an emergency.

I remember well when the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government abolished the local authority house building programme. I was on South Tipperary County Council at the time and I remember responding to the circular by prophecising that this would happen, but even I did not believe that we would have 10,000 people homeless or people dying on our streets. That is what has happened, though. That is what putting one's faith in privatisation means, namely, ordinary families coming off the worst. What could be worse than being homeless or dying on the street?

Of the 10,000 people homeless, 3,500 are children. Approximately 100,000 people are on local authority housing lists, 25,000 or more are on the infamous HAP scheme, approximately 30,000 families are in serious mortgage arrears, and rents are sky rocketing to the point that they are now 25% higher than they were at the height of the boom. Not a day goes by that a homeless person does not come to the office or ring the phone of every Deputy. Sometimes, two or three homeless people present everyday, even in my office in Tipperary. Not too long ago people were saying that the peak of the crisis was to be found in Dublin, but it is all over the country now.

Even our President has indicated that the policy being pursued by this and the previous Governments as well as the preceding Fianna Fáil Governments is wrong. He stated:

We have to accept once and for all that people who need housing and cannot provide from their own means should not be abandoned to the marketplace and the principle should be accepted that their housing should be as good as any other housing.... One of the most basic deprivations a human being can sufferer, or fear, is that of being homeless ...

He also stated, "It's about democracy. You can't leave the provision of housing to a residual feature of the market place. We have done that and homelessness is a consequence of that."

We need to do a number of things if we are to make any progress on this housing crisis. First, we need a declaration of a housing emergency. We all know why, that being, we are in an emergency. It is possible to declare an emergency - it has been done before. The previous Government did it with the FEMPI legislation. It should be done again, and the quicker, the better.

We need a major public house building programme. We must return to local authorities building at a significant rate of at least 10,000 houses per year, but more if possible. We need to use moneys offered by the credit union movement to help in that regard. We need to stop the evictions and repossessions, which are only building up the crisis and adding to local authority housing lists. We do not need new laws or the like. The Government simply needs to instruct the banks that we own - Allied Irish Banks and Permanent TSB - to stop their repossessions, to stop taking houses from people and families, and to leave roofs over their heads. That would be of significant benefit to families that are suffering in these circumstances.

The rent pressure zones have not, and will not, work, so we need real rent controls. That is one reason for a housing emergency to be declared. Rents are now 25% higher than they were during the boom peak and families are being fleeced. Even families in what would be regarded as good quality employment are living from hand to mouth because they have little or nothing left at the end of the week. We need rent controls urgently.

We need to introduce legislation that would allow tenants to continue their tenancies after their private landlords sell on their houses. Such legislation is available in other jurisdictions and is nothing new. It has been discussed in the Chamber previously. The law should be introduced immediately because this issue is directly contributing to homelessness. It is the main cause of homelessness among families, as they are being required to leave their homes when their landlords sell their buy-to-let properties.

The limits placed on inclusion on local authority housing waiting lists need to be increased significantly. They were reduced by the previous Government and now there is a large cohort of people who do not qualify to join the lists or to get mortgages. They are paying exorbitant rents. This situation needs to be dealt with urgently. The new Rebuilding Ireland loan scheme has made matters worse, particularly given that a 10% deposit is required. Previously, someone could get a 98% loan from a local authority. Now, someone must have a 10% deposit, but can anyone explain how a family paying anything up to €1,500 per month in private rented accommodation can also save for a 10% deposit? It is not possible. The scheme is unworkable and needs to be changed urgently.

See this speech in context