Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has said that professional people should live like students in so-called co-living accommodation because that is the norm in London and New York. It is obvious that prices and rents are out of control in London and New York, which are among the most unaffordable housing markets in the world. London and New York have serious housing problems because housing is now an investment for speculation. As we have heard, it is clear that speculative investment in housing is happening here too. The most recent OECD report warns that the Irish economy is vulnerable to a recession due to a disorderly Brexit. I understand the Tánaiste has indicated that the prospect of a disorderly Brexit is even more likely now. The OECD report also warns that the presence of foreign investors in the property market is a particular risk to us. More than half of all investment in commercial property is coming from outside the State. Student accommodation and buy-to-let properties are crowding out housing developments for people right now, for the simple reason that they are more profitable. It is a textbook example of how a free market approach cannot and will not deliver affordable housing. Does the Taoiseach understand that? These kinds of speculative investments are taking construction workers, scarce land and scarce capital. When housing becomes just another investment that focuses on maximum profit, this forces people to pay more and more in housing costs. That is what is manifestly happening.

The reliance on financial investment also pushes down standards. We have seen this in the ludicrous co-living proposal, which attempts to normalise cramped living conditions and erode public housing standards that we have spent most of our lives trying to improve. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has become an apologist for those who wish to push down the quality of housing. As I have said, we have spent decades trying to have decent standards for people. All of this shows that the Government is out of touch with the reality of the lives of the vast bulk of working people. Not everyone is privileged enough to go from college into a well-paid professional job, and quickly earn enough to be able to put down a deposit on a family home. The Minister's assumption seems to be that co-living would be an acceptable option for someone on this gilded path. It shows a complete lack of understanding of the kinds of jobs that are available to most people. While I welcome today's jobs figures, I remind the Taoiseach that one in four of the workers to whom he has referred is on less than two thirds of median earnings, or little more than €23,000 a year after tax. Working people need affordable housing. I have a simple question for the Taoiseach. Will he admit that the strategy that has been pursued by the Minister and his Government colleagues is not working? Will the Government change direction in favour of a State-led housebuilding programme, like that which has been outlined in some detail by my party?

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