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

We need clarity in that regard because there are many tracts of public land for which the council could very quickly put out a tender for one or more builders to come in and get on with using the land. I ask the Minister of State to address that issue in his reply.

Many Deputies have referred to the Ó Cualann model whereby a voluntary co-operative housing association has been able to build affordable homes in Dublin because the council gave it the land at a nominal price and the various levies and so on were not charged. Surely that model could be used far more widely on publicly owned land. On social mix, people in need of affordable housing could also be accommodated by models such as Ó Cualann. They have significant rents and cannot get a mortgage but are above the income limit for local authority housing, as mentioned by another Deputy. I wish there was movement on these issues and that these models were being used.

I acknowledge the comments of the Minister of State on Traveller accommodation, on which there has been some progress. However, statistics indicate that local authorities are still not spending the money they are allocated for Traveller-specific accommodation. A significant number of Traveller families are still living in totally unsafe and tough situations, and that needs to be addressed further.

I support Deputy Casey on short-term letting. My colleague, Senator Humphreys, regularly speaks on the issue in the Dublin area. He knows the issue far better than I do as it is not as big a problem in my constituency. We need proper enforcement to ensure planning applications are submitted by those letting properties on a short-term basis because they are displacing people who would otherwise be able to rent the properties as their home. That issue needs to be looked at.

On rent freezes, Deputy Ó Broin introduced the Rent Freeze (Fair Rent) Bill 2019 on First Stage today. The Labour Party very much supports the Bill. Now is the time to bring in a rent freeze. The 4% increases in rent pressure zones are being added to totally unaffordable rents. We have reached a point whereby rents are so high that people with reasonably good jobs and, in many cases, two salaries simply cannot afford the rents that are being sought. They have no security in their rented accommodation but cannot raise a deposit to get a mortgage because they are paying so much in rent. They are in a catch 22. A rent freeze would be of assistance in that regard while we await what I hope will be a ramping up of the construction of homes.

This issue has been discussed many times in the House, often on Thursday afternoons. No Deputy wishes just to talk about the matter. We all want to see something happening, more homes being built and, in particular, the number of homeless people declining rather than rising as it has been for months on end. Deputies have put forward practical proposals. All my comments have related to practical proposals, as have those of other Members. The difficulty is that things are still moving at a snail's pace. In the meantime, many people in the rental sector are stuck in the horrible situation of not knowing when they will lose their home, while many young children and their parents are facing into Christmas living in very precarious situations in hotels or hubs. We need to find solutions quickly. A protest on the matter is taking place outside Leinster House and I hope it will make a difference. What will really make a difference is action, construction, and measures to ensure that people do not lose their homes in the first place.

See this speech in context