Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Over the past number of weeks, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has championed the concept of co-living as a solution to the rental crisis. He has gone so far as to say that people should be excited by his co-living plan. One example of this exciting plan is being developed in Dún Laoghaire by Bartra Capital Property Group, and involves 208 studio dwellings that are around the same size as a parking space. It is proposed that on one floor 42 people would share one kitchen and for this exciting proposal, as the Minister puts it, rent would be in excess of €1,300 per month for what amounts to tenement living.

I am not sure about the Taoiseach, but I do not find that proposal exciting in the slightest. Given the public reaction to the Minister's new project, people in the real world do not find it exciting either; in fact, they have been angered by it. The Minister is so out of touch that he cannot seem to grasp that co-living is not an answer to the housing or rental crises. It is an insult to those seeking a safe and secure roof over their heads. Threshold has described these proposed developments as "21st century bedsits with a glossy makeover", and further said that they should not be viewed as a viable solution to the housing shortage. I agree with that assessment, because co-living has no place in our dysfunctional rental market. It is certainly not a solution.

It is, however, the clearest evidence of the biggest obstacle to tackling the housing crisis and that is the Taoiseach's Government. The most serious issue here is that the Minister thinks this is a good idea. Not only does he support and champion it, he doubles down on his message, and is saying to young people, in effect, that a box room with a fold-up bed and a kitchen shared by 42 people for €1,300 a month is as good as it gets. It is absolutely off the wall and it seems the reality of the Government's plan is bed and breakfasts and hotels for homeless children, two and three generations of families under one roof, ridiculous runaway rents, council housing waiting lists that will never be cleared, and the dream of one day owning their own home being totally shattered for many young people. This is as good as it gets on the Taoiseach's watch. Co-living and a perpetual rental crisis are all the Minister has to offer tens of thousands of people affected by the housing crisis. That is his record, his promise and his mantra. How does the Taoiseach defend this?

See this speech in context