Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wholeheartedly agree with the Bill brought forward by Deputy Mick Wallace and I thank him for doing so. It pains and concerns me to see the very same mistakes being made now which we saw in the lead-up to the horrific economic crash in the years 2007 and 2008. The housing strategy employed by the current and previous Fine Gael-led Governments has, quite simply, failed. The real failure, however, was the development of an utterly reckless housing policy, introduced by Fianna Fáil throughout the 1990s and 2000s, which brought speculation, greed and commodification above the basic right to a roof over families' and individuals' heads. The results of this are now being lived out in the streets, in hotels and in other types of totally inadequate emergency accommodation.

Sinn Féin has consistently put forward concrete proposals throughout all of these years to protect tenants, public and private, and homeowners. These proposals have been largely ignored by both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Given the emergency crisis we are now experiencing, the time for pussyfooting around this issue is over. Speculation by developers and holding huge land banks all over the country while seeking to make mega-profits need to cease immediately. The vacant site levy has not worked. We are told finance is not the problem in building social and affordable housing and, therefore, we require land. Developers are sitting on this much-needed land. Deputy Wallace states that increasing the vacant site levy from 3% to 25% would be a game changer. I agree with this statement. Let us make speculating on development land an expensive business. Let us finally put people first. As long as we continue to view land and housing as a commodity to be bought and sold to the highest bidder, we will continue to have a housing crisis. It is not good enough. As I have already said, people must come first. Housing is a human right. I support this Bill.

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