Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Taoiseach whether he would extend a formal invitation to Ms Farha. This would be an important thing to do in the development of strategies. We do not have a coherent housing strategy: we have primarily a market-led and very expensive response. Ms Farha pointed out some very tangible solutions in other areas, first and foremost in respect of the private rental sector and greater supports in that regard. She gave the example of a foreign investor tax to make it less attractive for private equity firms to commandeer vast amounts of housing for profit and put them out of the reach of ordinary citizens. She talked about our Constitution protecting private property but supposedly being balanced by the common good. However, we rarely see the common good coming to the fore when it comes to housing. Will the Taoiseach extend that formal invitation? Furthermore, what strategies to reduce homelessness can he point to that will achieve the development goals to which we signed up?

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