Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party has no confidence in the Government and we particularly have no confidence in the Government with respect to its action or inaction relating to housing and homelessness. One need only look at the figures published today, unexpectedly late and into December. They normally come at the end of the month, which would have been November in this case.

More than 10,500 people, including almost 4,000 children are now homeless. Surely that in itself demonstrates the complete failure of the Government's policy.

Many Members have said that Rebuilding Ireland has failed and the Minister said this is the policy and it is working. I will quote from the summary published by Government when it published Rebuilding Ireland: "The plan sets ambitious targets to double the annual level of residential construction to 25,000 homes and deliver 47,000 units of social housing in the period to 2021”. That clearly is not being delivered. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, which gets its figures from the Department, now predicts only 45,000 completions by 2024, not by 2021. Clearly, Rebuilding Ireland is failing in that.

The second point in the summary document addresses the unacceptable number of households, particularly families, in emergency accommodation. Clearly, Rebuilding Ireland has failed in that regard. More than 10,500 people are in homelessness. There was a specific aim to take families out of hotels by a certain date and it is now two or three years later and families are still living in hotels. The next point in the summary relates to moderating rental and purchase price inflation, particularly in urban areas. Rebuilding Ireland has failed completely on that. Rental prices in Ireland are unaffordable, particularly in urban areas, and purchase prices are also increasing.

The summary then proposes to address a growing affordability gap for many households wishing to purchase their own homes. Clearly, Rebuilding Ireland has failed again on that. The next point in the summary is maturing the rental sector so that tenants see it as one that offers security, quality and choice of tenure in the right locations and providers see it as one they can invest in with certainty. There is no doubt Rebuilding Ireland has failed in that regard. What we need now is a rent freeze because they have become unaffordable, yet that is not something the Government is willing to contemplate.

The next point in the summary relates to ensuring housing's contribution to the economy is steady and supportive of sustainable economic growth. Again, clearly, we do not have that. A report published yesterday shows that, for people looking at Ireland from outside, the cost and the unaffordability of housing is one of the main reasons they believe it is not an option for them to come and work in Ireland. Those were the points made on the launching of Rebuilding Ireland and it has failed completely in that regard.

The Minister and the Government need to admit this policy has failed and they need to change it. I agree with those who said the policy is primarily based on using the private sector, even on the publicly-owned land. While the Minister refers to it as mixed tenure, his policy clearly is that the majority of homes on publicly-owned land should be for private profit. That is fundamentally unacceptable.

I want to answer the point the Minister made, and others who referred to previous Ministers with responsibility for housing. I want to show him this document published by a former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, which contains a detailed description of how the money that was to be spent when the man seated bedside me, Deputy Brendan Howlin, was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and allocated €4 billion for housing as soon as we were able to afford it. When I took up office as Minister of State with responsibility for housing, we were under the troika and, similarly, when Deputy Penrose took up the post, we did not have any money, but as soon as we had money, it was allocated for the building of public houses. That is what was meant to happen but that has not happened. There is a list of construction projects but most of them have simply not moved forward because of the Minister’s policy of using public lands primarily for private profit, and that is a failure.

It is important to be clear that there is fundamental difference in the way in which we approach this issue, which is fundamental for people. The Minister said the Opposition has not put forward proposals. We have put forward a number of Bills, two of which have gone through pre-legislative scrutiny in committee, having passed through this House. We have put forward proposals. We have a comprehensive policy document entitled, Affordable Housing for All. I want to nail the lie that the Opposition parties have not put forward constructive proposals and do not have policies on these issues. The issue is about the failure to implement policies that work. We need a fundamental change of policy in that regard.

I refer again to the issue of children in homelessness. We have had many debates on homelessness in this House but the fundamental issue is their childhoods are being taken from them because they are living in homeless accommodation. The Royal College of Physicians in Ireland published a paper entitled, The Impact of Homelessness and Inadequate Housing on Children’s Health recently. The college called on the Government to urgently take action to address the serious harm to the health of thousands of children experiencing homelessness and inadequate housing. It states: "Children experiencing poor housing have a 25 per cent increased risk of severe physical and mental ill-health and disability during children and early adulthood." It cites the various effects on those children. We know the impact on a person’s health and well-being of adverse experience in childhood lasts well beyond childhood. It refers specifically to a higher risk of preterm pregnancy and low birth weight; higher rates of asthma, respiratory illness and infectious diseases; poor nutrition and obesity; less access to developmental opportunities, pay, recreation and social activities; poorer emotional and mental health, and increased behavioural difficulties; less access to preventive health care and lower rates of childhood immunisation; poorer education opportunities; and difficulties in the relationship between parents and their children.

Fundamentally , we need to think about those children who need a home. That is why we support this motion of no confidence. We need this most serious of issues to be addressed. There is publicly owned land. There is now money that there was not in the early stages of our time in government. We need the policy to change to ensure the housing that can be delivered is delivered. We need to send a message of hope that this can be done. It is wrong to say the policy is succeeding when, clearly, it is not. That is the change of tack we need and we do not appear to be getting it from this Government.

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