Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The latest managers' report from Cork City Council states that there are 8,913 individuals and families on the housing list in Cork city alone. That does not include all the people on the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme or the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. On average, 1,054 new applications are received in Cork annually. Cork City Council built approximately 600 houses in 2020. Before the Minister mentions the issues arising because of the Covid crisis, I will point out that it built 654 the previous year.

I want to note that Cork City Council is recognised as one of the best local authorities for delivering social housing. It meets all the Government targets that are set out every year. My issue is that the Government targets are not good enough and they are not high enough. To put it simply, the Government's targets are too low. It knows it and the Department knows it. The targets that are being set will never solve the housing crisis. It is as simple as this: if there are 9,000 people and families on the housing list, 1,000 new applications coming in every year and 600 houses being built, the housing crisis will never be resolved. Surely the Minister and the people in his Department know this. The bare minimum that is needed if they are going to tackle the crisis is to build the number of houses that matches the number of people coming onto the list every year, plus extra.

The Minister is not providing enough funding for Cork City Council and other local authorities to build the social housing that is needed to tackle the crisis. I have given the figures. The Department gets those figures every month from Cork City Council. For him to come in here telling us about all the great work that is being done is not acceptable. That is one of the other major issues. Successive Ministers with responsibility for housing have come into the Dáil with new plans and told Deputies how the housing crisis will be solved. People ring me in my office and say that they hope I can get one of the houses for them. However, those houses are not being delivered at all because the list keeps going up and up. It is estimated that in four years' time, Cork City's Council's housing waiting list will include more than 12,000 individuals and families. At this time, there are 911 families and individuals on the waiting list for more than 12 years. It is a scandal. I have listened to the Minister talk about what he is hoping to do. This is what is happening now and this is what people are living with.

There is much more I could say but I will raise just one more point. I attended a meeting yesterday about the development by the Land Development Agency, LDA, on the St. Kevin's Hospital site in Cork, which involves the building of 266 units. Twenty-seven apartments, or 10% of the total, are being provided for social housing. This means that 90% of the units under the plan as it is now - the closing date for submissions is tomorrow - will be put out to the public for private purchase. How can the Minister stand over that? Will he put in a submission tomorrow to An Bord Pleanála to seek the provision of more than 10% social housing? Will he also look to extend the date for submissions in respect of this project? The people in the community do not know about it. There has been no engagement with residents and community groups. There is no transport infrastructure and no roads infrastructure in place. The LDA wants to rush the project ahead. Will the Minister request that the closing date be extended for four weeks to allow people time to make submissions? Will he put in a submission seeking more than 10% social housing?

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