Dáil debates

Tuesday, 3 December 2019

Confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Motion [Private Members]

 

9:55 pm

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There is no reason we cannot build large numbers of houses at that price on the very many publicly-owned sites available in Dublin and throughout the country. This is the type of approach taken by many Governments in the past, even when times were very hard. It is a cruel irony that at a time when the country was never wealthier, so many people are locked out of housing completely. There is now an entire generation of young people in their 20s and 30s who are denied human aspirations their parents took for granted.

They are denied the right to stay in this country, for example, the right to settle down and the right to consider starting a family - all due to the enormous struggle that faces them in trying to access decent housing. The cost of housing is the single greatest contributor to our high cost of living and employers cite it as a significant issue in attracting people to come to this country or to return here to fill key job vacancies. The lack of affordability has impacts beyond that generation, as their parents try to bail them out and support them financially, or try to accommodate them in an overcrowded home.

The tragedy is it does not have to be like this. If the Minister was serious about ensuring people could have access to a decent home, he would ensure we used public land for the public good. The Social Democrats has called for a housing delivery agency to develop well planned, mixed housing developments on all large public sites. This is the kind of sustainable and fair approach that is needed, unlike the Land Development Agency, LDA, as proposed by the Government, which would use public land to achieve private profit. It is clear that what the Minister has in mind for the LDA is not an agency that is socially focused, just as the National Asset Management Agency was not either. Claims by the Minister he is implementing the Kenny report are laughable. The State needs to take control of land prices and the Minister should stop hiding behind the Constitution in that regard.

Having a place to call home is a fundamental issue to us all as humans. For that reason, it is the fundamental responsibility of a Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to ensure everyone can have access to a home at a reasonable cost. The Minister has failed to do that. It is time for him to go and it is time for change. I commend this motion to the House.

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