Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government indicates that this Government should be judged on the basis of how it addresses the housing crisis. I wonder how accountability for that commitment is being pursued, given the ever-worsening housing and homelessness crisis and record numbers who are homeless. There has been a pretty pathetic output of public housing.

I ask particularly about two of the big ideas from the Government in dealing with housing: Housing Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, and the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, LIHAF. We were told when LIHAF was introduced that 40% of any development with such funding would deliver affordable housing. That was then dropped with no explanation. Now, essentially no percentage is guaranteed for money that was supposed to deliver affordable housing. It is a similar problem with HBFI, which is a major fund for lending to private developers but absolutely no commitment, guarantee or obligation on the part of those who get those funds to deliver housing that is affordable. What is the point in these initiatives if they deliver large sums to private developers but with no guarantee whatsoever that they will deliver housing that will help address the housing crisis and meet the Government's commitment to address that crisis?

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