Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have lost count of the number of initiatives on housing that have been brought in since we were elected to the House. One thing has not changed: housing remains unaffordable. The Government is not tackling the fact the supply of housing in this country is dysfunctional. It is double the price of mainland Europe for a three bedroom house within 30 km of the capital city. That is the truth. Why is it like that? There are two aspects. There is land banking, which the Government refuses to tax in a proper way, as other countries do, and there is a fellow called the developer who does not build anymore and who is looking for between 60 and 80 units. The Government needs to tax land banking. Some 10% of the housing stock is social housing when it needs to be about 30%. The Government needs to get interested in providing a serious amount of social housing. It should tax land banking and have 30% of the housing stock as social housing, and that will go some way towards addressing the dysfunctional nature of the supply of housing in this country.

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