Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, thousands of people gathered outside the gates here to stand against the homelessness and housing crisis. There were people from all different walks of life and sectors of society, including students, parents, teachers, nurses, pensioners, workers and the unemployed. Their message to the Government, if it was not heard, was loud and clear. It was a message to the Government that its housing policies are failing and that they want real, meaningful solutions. They represented, outside the gates of Leinster House, hundreds of thousands of people who are affected by the housing emergency, people who are affected day in, day out. They represented the 10,000 people in emergency accommodation, including the 4,000 children. They represented those who are struggling with unaffordable rents which are spiralling out of control. They represented those who cannot afford to buy their own homes and are languishing on council waiting lists. The Tánaiste must now surely accept the reality that no matter how many times he or members of his Government say it, their housing policies are simply not working. It is time to say enough is enough.

A recent Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, study shows that a third of households are paying more than 30% of their income on rent. That is the level that is deemed unaffordable. It gets worse because a shocking 70% of modest income households are spending more than 30%. That is a scandal. Next week's budget offers an opportunity to give renters a break. That is why we in Sinn Féin have proposed the introduction of a temporary tax relief for renters and a three year emergency rent freeze. That is a proposal befitting the scale and measure of the crisis that we face in this State. Alongside that, the Tánaiste knows that we need to see a dramatic increase in the delivery of social and affordable homes which need to be constructed in 2019. Budget 2019 can mark a step change in that regard. That means doubling the level of capital investment in housing. That is what Sinn Féin, what last night's cross-party motion and what the thousands of people outside the gates who chanted loudly are calling for the Government to do.

The Taoiseach and Ministers keep saying that money is not an issue and that they will fund any measure to tackle the crisis. As the saying goes, the Tánaiste needs to put his money where his mouth is. There are three large-scale council developments ready to go. One is in Shanganagh in Dún Laoghaire and would deliver 500 social, affordable rental and affordable purchase homes. One in Damastown in west Dublin would deliver 1,000 homes. One in Kilcarbery in south Dublin would deliver another 1,000 homes. These are council-led proposals with cross-party support for mixed income and mixed tenure estates. They would provide 2,500 needed homes which would have a significant impact on the housing crisis right now. Will the Government directly fund these three council-led projects? Will it increase capital investment in housing by the €1 billion that is required? Will it introduce, as a tax relief for renters, an emergency tax freeze in next Tuesday's budget?

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