Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion. Unfortunately, I can confirm that the private rental sector in Ireland is totally dysfunctional. Government after Government has tried to stimulate the housing market but that has resulted in driving rents higher and higher. Rents have increased by 100% since 2013.

The most shocking revelation of this week was the case of Mullen Park in Maynooth, where a global property investment firm purchased most of the 170 first-time buyer homes available. There is no legislation to stop investors doing that. Yesterday, Round Hill Capital purchased 112 houses suitable for single families in Hollystown in Dublin 15. They will also be used as rental properties. Is this the new supply line for the rental market? Our building crisis has been facilitated by Government.

While the recent cost-rental scheme is welcome, it is entirely inadequate in terms of the scale of funding. We are building hundreds, rather than thousands, of cost-rental homes and homes for affordable purchase. There was a national call-out for houses in Ireland. The Minister got 400 houses and rejected 155. Why did that happen? They were never inspected. Why not? Surely this was a quick fix. Do councils not have enough money?

There are people in cities, towns, villages and rural areas affected by this. The Government cannot supply houses to all generations. There are no rental properties or houses being built. There are major supply and demand issues with house rentals. On the other hand, in the 2040 plan, backed by the Government, it is proposed to stop houses being built in towns, villages and rural areas because there is no infrastructure.

We are 0.1% globally but the Government is stopping us from living in our own areas where we grew up. It is stopping people building anything except cities. The Land Development Agency is only based on supply chains in cities. It has nothing for anyone outside a city. Since I first came to the Dáil, I said I was here to represent County Limerick. I am not here to represent Dublin but am here to get a fair share for the county of Limerick. I want this Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party Government to give equality to the rest of the country and allow investment in our markets and infrastructure. Since my election, I said there was no investment. Askeaton is waiting 33 years for a sewerage upgrade. Oola is also waiting for an upgrade in sewerage infrastructure as is Hospital. There is only 27% capacity left in County Limerick but guess where all the development is going? All the Government funding is going to the areas with existing infrastructure.

The 2040 plan reduces the amount of housing that can be built in towns and villages in County Limerick and country-wide. That does not fix the problem. Fixing the problem is going back to the basics. Give us the infrastructure. Let us build houses in our areas to accommodate the people. Let us build houses in our towns and villages and give us the investment in infrastructure for which we have asked for more than 30 years. Stop giving all the funding to the cities, which are causing much of the emission problems.

Does the Minister of State know about a report done by the OPW? Who are the biggest polluters of our rivers and waterways? It is the local authorities, the Government and the OPW due to a lack of infrastructure and a lack of investment.

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