Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I welcome and congratulate the two new Ministers. I wish them success, though unfortunately I do not think they will be successful unless they change their tack. Housing remains a critical issue in my own constituency of Limerick City. It was the number one issue on the doorsteps during the recent general election. The lack of affordable housing for either rent or purchase is creating massive problems in our society. We now have incredible situations where generations of families are living in the same crowded homes. Children cannot study properly because there is no place to do their homework.

There are grandchildren living permanently with their grandparents. While the grandparents love to have the children in their home, they do not like them being there the whole time.

We are storing up a national disaster unless there is a massive intervention in terms of building houses, including affordable houses. A generation of working families have been robbed of the opportunity of owning their own homes. This is the legacy of the failed housing policy of the previous Fine Gael Government. However, that Government did not fail alone. Its failure was enabled by Fianna Fáil through the confidence and supply agreement. I welcome that Fine Gael is no longer leading the housing portfolio, because it has been an absolute disaster on housing. However, I have concerns about its enabler-in-chief, Fianna Fáil, taking over the brief. The new Minister, Deputy O'Brien, needs to act now and outline his plans through which affordable housing will become a reality. To date, we have had no such detailed policy from the Minister's party and his statement this evening does not inspire much confidence in me.

The legacy of the so-called housing policy of the Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil confidence and supply Government is the creation of an unflattering new normal. Generations of families are living under the same roof, often in overcrowded conditions. That has to stop. Young couples are spending their earnings on high rents, with little prospect of owning their own homes. That must end. Sinn Féin is the only political party to publish a costed housing policy. My constituency office, like that of many other Deputies, is inundated on a daily basis with housing queries. I urge all Deputies to support the motion put forward by my colleague, Deputy Ó Broin. We must introduce an affordable housing scheme that will offer hope to those people who are working hard without any possibility of owning their own homes.

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