Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak again on housing. It is the biggest crisis we have and the biggest challenge we face, not just here in the Oireachtas but within society. Only last week, Fianna Fáil put forward a Private Members' Bill. I had the opportunity to speak about that to the Minister of State. Much of what I have to say echoes what I said last week. Seven days on, the frustration is increasing. It involves the families in south Kildare with whom I have dealt regarding the current housing and homelessness crisis.

The Minister of State's first priority in terms of serving the people is housing and providing a safe and secure home - a roof over the heads of families in absolute despair who are getting more and more despondent as the days, weeks and months go by. These are the people stuck in emergency accommodation and family hubs. They are trying to give their children a decent home and to get them to school every day but they do not have any of the resources or supports any family would hope to have for their children.

The first measure is about supporting home ownership. The fact that home ownership has dropped to the lowest level in 50 years is frightening. Home ownership is slipping away from a generation and the situation is getting worse. Younger people I know, like my brothers and sisters, may never have the opportunity to own their own home. That is okay if someone has security of tenure and security regarding rent, but we do not have either in this country. It affects all of the young people and indeed the not-so-young, because every week I come across older people in this situation. I discussed this with Age Action Ireland at the weekend. I meet single people in their 60s, 70s and even 80s who might be widowed or separated and who do not have a home to call their own. This must be an incredibly frightening place to be in after living one's life and doing one's best for this country and society and one's own community and family. Young people in Dublin and areas close to Dublin, including parts of my county of Kildare, are paying up to 55% of their income in rent. They are trying to save for a deposit but are unable to so and are being put to the pin of their collar.

The Government has produced six plans accompanied by 12 different launches. We can have all the plans and launches in the world but it is down to delivery and bricks and mortar on the ground.

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It comes down to outcomes that properly serve the interests of those whom we represent.

Fianna Fáil has worked on policy changes, made suggestions and brought forward Bills. Only last week, Deputy Darragh O'Brien brought forward a good Bill to try to provide that 30% of all units built go to affordable housing, in addition to the requirements under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The proposed Bill would also be a means of reforming planning laws to prevent cuckoo funds from taking over complete blocks of developments.

What else do we need? This debate is focusing on solutions as well as problems. Fianna Fáil has put forward solutions around more local authority and public housing. The record of the Fine Gael Government over the past nine years is absolutely shameful. We need affordable homes and Fianna Fáil has brought forward legislation to provide them.

Shared ownership of homes was done away with under this Government but we need to bring it back. We need to reform the mortgage market and help people with deposits. Fianna Fáil has suggested a type of special savings incentive account, SSIA, scheme through which we would, if we were in government, support people to own their first homes by helping with deposits.

More designated student accommodation is also important. In our large cities with universities and other third level educational facilities, students are competing with private renters and people who are availing of the HAP scheme. It is incredibly difficult for all involved. Until we get more affordable accommodation, we are going to have that element of competition between different sectors of society and there will be more victims of this crisis.

Smaller towns and communities around the country are in real danger of stagnating because of a rural housing policy in many local authorities that essentially prevents planning for one-off houses. I am not suggesting a plethora of one-off houses but stronger cases need to be made for people who want to build homes in their communities and support their families. Generations must be helped to look after one another. Such a move would also support local businesses. Those communities need to survive and thrive. We need to open up planning in that area. As my colleague, Deputy Thomas Byrne, said, we also need to invest in water and sewerage schemes to enable small communities to survive and thrive.

We need landlords in the system, but unfortunately there is a complete over-reliance on the private sector at the moment, which is causing problems for many people.

We appreciate the opportunity to raise these issues. I ask for the Minister of State's help on behalf of all of those whom I represent in south Kildare and parts of Laois and Offaly who are on housing lists and trying to acquire their own homes and have a place to call their own. I quoted a poem of Padraic Colum's last week that we all learned about the importance of the opportunity to have one's own home and keys. It is essential that we all, across this House, do what we can to ensure that people have that opportunity.

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