Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Ó Broin on bringing this Bill before the House and on his work in presenting a different, better and fairer vision of housing to the Irish people. Nothing exposes the difference in Sinn Féin's vision and the approach adopted by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael than the stark statistic we heard tonight that there are currently planning applications for more than 5,000 co-living units, several multiples of the corresponding figures for affordable and social dwellings.

Sinn Féin believes in the right to housing because we know that when that right is upheld our communities are better places for everyone to live in. I personally know the benefits of good housing policy. I know what it means for a poor family to be allocated a council house. I know the difference that a home can make to a family trying to rebuild their lives. A home gives a sense of security, a sense of place and a sense of peace that cannot and will never be provided in perilous temporary rented accommodation.

My experience of housing provision was not unusual in my youth but today it would appear alien to many who are languishing on housing waiting lists. There are families tonight in the same position that my family once found themselves in but instead of having the hope of securing a home, many of them are living daily with the fear that they will remain in hotel rooms or cramped rented accommodation for a long time to come. Instead of the security, the sense of place or the peace that was once offered to those who needed a home, this Government offers short-term sticking plasters at huge cost delivered by speculators who are heavily subsidised by their friends in Government with Irish taxpayers' money.

To add insult to the massive injury of its failed housing policy, Fine Gael's answer is co-living - bedrooms the size of car park spaces at a cost in excess of €1,300 per month. They are the new tenements of our time. Fianna Fáil, when pretending to be in opposition, pretended to oppose this concept. Now in government it has reverted to type, promising reviews while allowing the developers, the speculators and the vultures to run amok. Shame on any Deputy who fails to support this Bill.

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