Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I had a sense of déjà vuwhen I first read Deputy Wallace's Bill because it brought me back to the early days of my predecessor, the late Tony Gregory, when he came into the Dáil. He was facing what we are facing today, the extent of the land hoarding going on in Dublin city. It created a major housing crisis. When he spoke in May 1982 he lamented the fact that the Kenny report from 1973 was still being ignored almost ten years later. It has been ignored for 45 years. We know it came out of a crisis which involved a huge increase in the price of building land yet it contained proposals that would have made a difference. We can only speculate on the differences it would have made today if it had been implemented. When we ask why we are told that one of the reasons is that it revolves around Article 43 of the Constitution under which the State guarantees to pass no law that attempts to abolish the right of private ownership. I do not believe that the authors of the Constitution intended protecting the kind of private ownership we are seeing today, the land hoarding, sitting on vacant sites until the market guarantees an astronomical price, the speculating and putting owning one's own home out of the reach of most people, not to mention the disastrous effects on social housing. When Tony Gregory spoke in the Dáil in 1982 he said that "[t]he speculation and profiteering in building land is a crime". He described speculators as "being on the same level as heroin dealers. Both profit from the misery of their victims".

The sense of déjà vu continues until 2005 when there was an incredible rise in the cost of houses, massive increases in prices, which had spiralled out of control, lengthy waiting lists for local authority housing and a small number of multimillionaire developers controlling most development land. In 2005 the average price of a house in Dublin was in excess of €300,000. The term "affordable housing" meant absolutely nothing. In Dublin we saw the rise in gated community complexes, houses and apartments at very high prices which played a role in furthering social inequality. In 2006 the average price was over €420,000. We could be talking about today. The collapse of the public private partnerships promised so much for the residents of O'Devaney Gardens, Dominick Street and St. Michael's Estate but they were left frustrated. I acknowledge that the first sod is being turned in O'Devaney Gardens tomorrow morning. Good complexes have been built in Dublin city, such as St. Bricins, Father Scully House and Peadar Kearney House.

We know that the principal contributory element in the increasing cost of housing is the very high cost of building land. That is fuelled by owners who are allowed to sit on vacant sites. There have been too many examples over recent years of what has not worked. The 3% vacant levy has not delivered the land that is needed. If something is not working a plan B is needed. This is the plan B. It is good that the Bill is moving forward but I hope it will not take a meandering route through various Stages and not see the light of day.

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