Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: notes: — the absence of any targets for the delivery of affordable rental or purchase homes in the Programme for Government;

— the absence of any definition of affordable housing or any price points for affordable housing in the Programme for Government;

— the delays in delivering an affordable cost rental scheme since it was announced by the Government in 2014 and again in 2016;

— that rents have increased by 26 per cent since 2016, with average rents at €1,402 per month and €2,000 per month in Dublin;

— that in Dublin, house prices have increased by 12 per cent since 2016 with average prices now at €373,248;

— that Economic and Social Research Institute research shows that 70 per cent of private renters and mortgaged households in the lowest quarter of the income distribution have high housing costs; and

—that during four years of a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Confidence and Supply Arrangement, not a single affordable home to rent or buy was delivered through any central Government scheme; and calls on the Government to introduce an affordable housing scheme that: — delivers mixed income and mixed tenure public housing developments on public land lead by local authorities, approved housing bodies and community land trusts;

— has a minimum target of 100,000 public homes to meet social and affordable need over five years;

— determines tenure mix in accordance with local need, combining social rental, affordable rental and affordable leasehold purchase;

— ensures that no land will be sold or transferred out of public ownership for the purpose of delivering public housing;

— defines housing affordability as no more than 30 per cent of net disposable income;

— is available to households whose gross incomes are below €75,000 for a couple and below €50,000 for a single person;

— delivers affordable homes to buy for €230,000 or less in cities and surrounding commuter belts;

— delivers affordable homes to buy for €220,000 or less in non-urban centres and non-commuter belt areas;

— delivers affordable cost rental homes to rent between €700 and €900 per month;

— ensures flexibility in the final entry level rents and purchase price to take account of variations in regional rental and purchase markets, with a particular emphasis on lower price markets in predominantly rural areas and smaller towns;

— is consistent with the National Planning Framework requirements for urban densification and mixed-use, mid-rise and higher-density master planning by the local authority; and

— is financed through a combination of capital expenditure, serviced sites fund, capital advanced loan facilities and long-term low interest public borrowing from sources, including the Housing Finance Agency, the European Investment Bank and credit unions.”

I am sharing time with a number of colleagues. A Cheann Comhairle, hundreds of thousands of working people are unable to afford a home. Too many are paying sky-high rents and others are forced to live at home while saving for a deposit. Average rents are now €1,400 per month and, in Dublin, €2,000 per month. Buying a home here in the capital will cost on average €370,000 and in many cases much more. Even couples with two good jobs are struggling to rent or buy. Single people and those on modest incomes are completely locked out. It does not have to be this way. There are solutions to the affordable housing crisis. Unfortunately, the people responsible for this crisis are back in charge. For years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were in government together. During that time, not a single affordable home to rent or buy was delivered through any central government scheme. The former Ministers, Deputies Coveney and Eoghan Murphy, threw money at private developers - a €200 million infrastructure fund, a €300 million serviced sites fund, and a €750 million home building fund, all eagerly supported by Deputies Cowen and Darragh O'Brien. Despite this, not a single affordable home has been built, bought or let with these funds. Sure, a few are in the pipeline but they are nowhere close to being affordable. For example, an apartment in O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin city, whenever the scheme is finished, will set a first-time buyer back an astonishing €360,000. Not content with this debacle, Fianna Fáil wanted the scheme to include so-called cost rental homes costing €1,600 per month. Anybody who thinks these prices are affordable is not living in the real world.

Now we have a new Government, a new programme for Government and a new housing Minister. I would genuinely like to be able to wish the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, well. More importantly, the thousands of people in housing need whom I and other Deputies represent do not just want the Minister to succeed, they need him to succeed. Unfortunately, the programme for Government offers little hope. It is a reheated version of the failed Rebuilding Ireland policy of Fine Gael. It is more of the same policy that Fianna Fáil both supported and opposed during confidence and supply. There are no targets for the delivery of affordable housing and no definitions, prices or capital commitments. Despite having had four years to come up with a plan, neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael can actually tell people what they will deliver, when they will do so and for how much. Just like their countermotion presented here tonight, there are lots of vague words but no firm commitments. I have to say this simply is not good enough.

Last month, Sinn Féin published a draft affordable housing circular. It outlined what we believe a Government serious about affordable housing should do. It shows how we can deliver affordable homes for €230,000 and less with no hidden equity charge; and how we can deliver affordable rents of between €700 and €900 per month. It provides the kind of detail we should be hearing from the Government on how to finance and deliver an ambitious programme of affordable housing by building mixed income public housing on public land, delivering social, affordable rental and affordable leasehold homes and, crucially, doubling capital expenditure to €2.3 billion annually to deliver 20,000 homes every year and 100,000 social and affordable homes in the lifetime of a Government. This is in our view the only way to get a grip on our housing crisis.

If the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is serious about public housing, Sinn Féin will work with him. If he is willing to abandon the failed policies of the past four years, including the controversial Land Development Agency, and embrace new ideas, he will have a willing partner in Sinn Féin. However, he and his Government will be judged by their record, that is, by the number, cost and quality of the homes they deliver. The time for empty promises is over. The time for affordable housing is now. I commend the motion to the House.

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