Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have listened very carefully to every Deputy's contribution because every Deputy's contribution is very important. I would like to return to the very sound point Deputy Boyd Barrett has just made. I have no reason in the world to doubt what he says. I have seen it in my own clinics. People say that the house they are living in is being sold. We have to ask ourselves why those properties are being sold. I touched on this in my earlier contribution. Why are properties that were being rented now being sold? I will give Deputy Boyd Barrett the answer. It reflects what goes on in Dáil Éireann, where people like Deputy Boyd Barrett have demonised people involved in the private rental sector. Much of the legislation that has been proposed is actively hunting people out of that sector. We have to ask why people are selling properties. Deputy Boyd Barrett and others forget that these people are taxpayers. They pay 52% of their earnings in tax.

They must then pay a mortgage and insurance. If it is being run as a business, there are many things that must be taken out of the money that comes in.

As I stated, Members of this House must be careful and responsible in what we do. I have no doubt about the genuineness and concern of Deputy Boyd Barrett regarding the comments he makes, but one must be careful if one does what he is doing and says many of the things he is saying. I do not wish to make this about the Deputy. People such as him have been saying certain things that might be contributing to the cause of the problem. In other words, such comments are actively putting people out of the business of providing accommodation. The record will show that in the past six or seven years in particular, thousands of properties have been sold out of this State and into ownership whereby they are not being put back on the rental market. That is a very important point. It is contributing to the problem we have.

Of course, there is an ideal solution, one that I wish to be in place for the county I represent, County Kerry. We have an excellent housing authority in County Kerry. I am very proud of every person who works there, including those who go out to repair local authority housing, the directors of service, the engineers and the ladies who administer the housing assistance payment, HAP. All of those people are excellent at and very committed to their job. The one thing we need in County Kerry is more funding from central government. We need to build more local authority houses. There used to be a thing called a single rural cottage and it was probably the best thing there ever was. As so few of them seem to be built in Ireland now, many people have forgotten what they are. People who had enough land to so do could sign over a half acre plot to Kerry County Council. The council could then come along and build a nice, fresh rural cottage on the land for that family. The family was able to live in that home and, in time, had the opportunity to buy it. It was one of the greatest things ever to see the local authority building such a house because one knew the family would be secured forever. It could continue to rent it from the local authority at an affordable rate or, in the best outcome of all, it could buy the house from the local authority. Very sadly, in recent years fewer and fewer single rural cottages have been built by our local authority. We wish to see more of that coming back into play. Obviously, more local authority housing should then be built in our towns and villages and-----

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