Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to speak on this. As Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said, this subject has raised its head since I first entered this House two and a half years ago. In our constituency, the number of people who come to us to try to acquire a house is frightening in the extreme. The public are cynical about politics and about us as politicians. As parliamentarians, it is our job to work to grow the public's trust in the political system. This Bill from Fine Gael will do nothing to increase people's faith in the system. This Bill, that will establish Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, was announced last year and it has taken far too long to deliver. It is yet another announcement that was not delivered, and nearly a year later, not a penny has been spent. It is another example of multiple announcements of the same funds by Fine Gael and precious little by way of delivery. That is why the people of this country have grown sceptical of this Government when it comes to solving the housing crisis. The HBFI was first announced a year ago yet, in the midst of a housing crisis, we are only seeing the Bill go through Second Stage now, meaning that this will not be done before the summer recess. The HBFI is designed to lend to builders at lower interest rates than are currently available on the market. HBFI will receive €750 million from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.

While we support the Bill, we must seriously question when it will be set up. It is worrying that we have been here before. The Government's previous plan, Activate Capital, has a total pot of €500 million, yet it has contributed to the construction of just 3,600 houses since its creation in January 2016. The HBFI must not be allowed to become a similar flop by the Government but it seems this trend has become the norm with the Government since it came to power seven years ago. Announcing and reannouncing plans but never focusing on delivery seems to be the modus operandiof Fine Gael in government. I have said many times that it is no mistake by the Taoiseach and his Government. We cannot explain away the failure of Fine Gael in solving the homelessness and housing crisis by mere inability or ineptitude. It is quite the opposite. It has access to the best specialist advice, both within and outside the Civil Service. It has been the Government for eight years and has had the time. Fine Gael in government has failed to do anything with housing because it just does not understand the crisis. Making a local authority house available to a lower income family is just not a priority for this Government.

In the world that the Taoiseach and Fine Gael inhabit, being homeless or living in a less than suitable rental property is not a problem. The Taoiseach has told us that our homeless figures are not the worst by international standards. This is not incompetence on behalf of the Taoiseach. It is just how he views society and it is important that the public understands this. Under Fine Gael in government, it has become acceptable to say things such as "some homeless people are working the system to get a council house". How anyone could believe that parents would make their children homeless to access a council house is beyond me. It is acceptable for a civil servant in the Department of Finance to suggest that we will continue to have a mortgage arrears crisis until we see a significant increase in home repossessions. In my constituency of Tipperary, it has become acceptable for a housing officer to declare to a young mother and her two children, when she presented as homeless at a local authority, that being homeless was no golden ticket for a council house. This is the new republic that our Taoiseach wants, where official Ireland is cold to the feelings and needs of the less well-off in our society, where it is socially acceptable to treat people in need in such a demeaning way. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach promotes himself at every opportunity, through broadcast, print and social media, as a man with all the answers. He has answers but they are to the wrong questions. This is who Fine Gael are and they will not change.

Homelessness has reached unprecedented levels. Surging rents are at historic highs. Home building numbers are tens of thousands behind where they need to be and we have well over 100,000 on the social housing waiting list. All the while, another massive problem is emerging that this problem is completely ignoring. Ordinary workers cannot afford a place of their own. Fianna Fáil is using the confidence and supply agreement to press for a policy shift to establish an affordable housing scheme, increase social housing spending and strengthen the rental sector. The Government has to start delivering on housing after six separate plans and more than a dozen launches. It needs to put bricks and mortars in the ground. Its Rebuilding Ireland plan, however, is already behind target and apparently already manipulating the figures. Supply and affordability are the key issues that need to be addressed to get to grips with the crisis in the private, social and rental sectors.

More housing plans have been launched by Fine Gael than social housing was built in 13 local authority areas last year. It is clear from that and other evidence that the Government has overstated the number of houses built rather than just purchased from the private sector. We need to see to a solution to the housing crisis and this Government has to decide to get involved in the work. Forget about launch after launch of existing plans. The Government should take responsibility for the work and hold itself to account for the results. It is clear that if one does not take responsibility or hold oneself to account in housing, the people will hold one to account in due course. There is a crisis that we, as parliamentarians, should rightly be ashamed of and it needs to be rectified immediately.

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