Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that. I am assuming I will get the extra minute that the Minister got. Ar aon nós, what is occurring is actually quite disheartening. While I welcome aspects of the motion, I am puzzled somewhat as to why its proposers saw fit to vote against the Fianna Fáil motion on 17 May, which was establishing an affordable housing scheme based on the very parameters mentioned in this Private Members' motion. Having said that, there are aspects of the motion that I welcome and that I believe we could work with.

It is disheartening to come in here every couple of weeks to have more debates on housing, which is crucial. It is like ground-hog day. The Minister's contribution is not rooted in reality; it is rooted in fantasy.

Some Members spoke about obtaining private land by way of compulsory purchase order, CPO. That may be part of the solution in terms of using a stick to acquire vacant homes but the State is the most guilty party for not using State owned land. We have 3,008 ha of State owned land that can deliver 114,000 homes for people.

Earlier this week I visited Dublin Central with my colleague, Mary Fitzpatrick. We went to O'Devaney Gardens, which the Minister mentioned. It is a 14 acre prime urban site less than 1 km from O'Connell Street that is zoned and serviced for housing. It has all the facilities including a frequent bus service and a Luas service. It is within walking distance of Heuston Station and the Phoenix Park on the way into town. In December 2016, the Government promised €17.9 million to build 56 units on a site that used to accommodate more than 600 families. In 2016, the Government said that this was the most important housing development in the country. In 2016, O'Devaney Gardens was the most important housing development in Rebuilding Ireland. It was to be the Government's flagship housing development under its much quoted Rebuilding Ireland. When I visited this week with Mary Fitzpatrick, more than two years on from the announcement made by the then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and the Minister's predecessor, the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Coveney, there were no new homes, no children playing, no builders, no diggers, no hoarding and no construction. There was nothing.

Down the road from that the Magdalen laundry site in Sean MacDermott Street is another example of the State's lack of commitment and ambition to deliver affordable homes. It is a 2 acre site less than half a kilometre from O'Connell Street which transferred from private ownership to the State as a form of compensation. What is happening with it now? Dublin City Council, DCC, is proposing to sell this valuable State owned land which is zoned and serviced for housing because the Government has failed to provide an affordable housing scheme.

The day after I moved our motion on establishing an affordable housing scheme on 17 May, the Minister came into the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government and said he would commence an affordable housing scheme. He has said again that he will do that but when will he do it? When will the regulations come in? How long will we have to wait?

I visited another part of Dublin, Ballymun, recently with a colleague of mine, Councillor Paul McAuliffe. The Minister mentioned Ó Cualann. I met with representatives of Ó Cualann and saw vast acres of other serviced land owned by the State that is not developed. More than 700 homes were to be built on the Oscar Traynor Road site in Santry but what have we done? We have asked for expressions of interest but there has not been any building on the site.

When we came back into Dublin Central Mary Fitzpatrick showed me State owned property. I want to deal with that element when we talk about refurbishment and putting accommodation back in. I went to Constitution Hill flats, St. Mary's Place on Dorset Street, Matt Talbot Court in Summerhill, St. Finbarr's Court in Cabra and Dominick Street flats, all of which began to be de-tenanted about ten years ago for refurbishment. The city council tells me it has not been given any money from central Government to refurbish those properties. I saw hundreds of units boarded up on Monday of this week. I saw ten, 12 or 14 apartments boarded up on the first floor. On the second floor I met families whose adult children and their grandchildren are living in those flats while walking past empty units owned by the State that we can control and do something about that. It beggars belief that we are here talking about this issue again when we cannot even get our act together in terms of the properties we own. It is a scandal.

We went to the Herbert Simms designed flats in Chancery House, which are in a brilliant location and fully serviced. The council staff came up and repainted them but has the Minister seen the state of the inside of the flats? I met families who are dealing with condensation, and we are doing nothing about that.

The purpose of this motion, which I welcome and to which I have tabled an amendment on behalf of my party, is to get something moving on this issue because nothing is happening. The Minister's contribution earlier was not grounded in fact. It was absolute fantasy. He said the social and affordable housing supply is being dramatically increased. Is he kidding me? We built 396 houses last year and he bought the rest. We are failing on this issue. We need to work together as an Oireachtas to start building homes and stop people falling into homelessness.

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