Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to begin by thanking my colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, for bringing forward this Bill and for the leadership he has shown on this issue throughout his time in Dáil Éireann and beforehand.

The inability to access housing and a home is destroying lives in this country, and has done for more than a decade. This debate happens regularly in this Chamber, as it should as a point of conversation in national debate. Too often, that debate is defined by arrogance. That arrogance was encapsulated perfectly over the past couple of weeks in the forcing through of what has been referred to as the Affordable Housing Bill 2021, with a Minister who was unwilling simply to listen.

He was unwilling to listen to the experts who are telling him the Bill would increase the cost of housing and make it more unattainable for those who are already suffering. It is arrogance not to listen to experts, including those in the Central Bank and the ESRI who advise the Government, and academics such as Ms Orla Hegarty, Dr. Lorcan Sirr and Dr. Rory Hearne, who have dedicated their lives to advancing a more humane approach to housing in this country. We see the arrogance of the Government in its treating of the Opposition with disdain and its refusal to listen to members of the parties in government, including councillors who see the outcomes of these failed policies every single day in their communities.

There is arrogance in the bullish repeating of the same old mistakes of the past and in keeping going in the apparent knowledge that, weirdly, there is legitimacy beyond outcome. There is arrogance in redefining cost-rental schemes, as was done this week when the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, said the concept would be expanded to ensure it is not overly reliant on public funding. If it is not reliant on public funding, it will resort to being reliant on private gain and private ownership, which has not served us well. The Government had the arrogance to redefine the very concept of what it means to be affordable. An affordable home is not one that costs €500,000 in Dublin or €400,000 in Galway, as has been presented this week. To continue in that belief and with that system is arrogant. It is the same arrogance that once led Fianna Fáil in government to tell us we had all partied and, in a previous generation, allowed a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach to say the country needed collectively to tighten its belt. That arrogance has defined Fianna Fáil throughout its time in politics and made us all lesser for it.

The conversation around housing has been defined by arrogance and hypocrisy on the part of the Government. Two weeks ago, and again today in the Dáil, the Tánaiste responded to legitimate questions from Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and our party leader, Deputy Shortall, on REITs. They asked whether a method can be applied to stop REITs purchasing blocks of apartments en masseand if evidence-based approaches such as those that are working in Germany could be employed. The Social Democrats were told we are being too ideological. There is great hypocrisy in being told we are too ideological by a Fine Gael Tánaiste who adheres to the market at all costs. There is great hypocrisy in his not being able to see that it is this very adherence to market forces and laissez-faireeconomics that led to a housing crisis that has been detrimental to the very dignity of the people who are being locked out of being able to own or rent a home. There is arrogance and hypocrisy in all of this.

The housing crisis in this country is a consequence of the failed ideology of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. It is the result of Fine Gael's total faith in the market and deference to international investors. There is a massive hypocrisy in that approach. Next week, legislation will be brought before the Dáil that seeks to prevent the sale of concert tickets by touts. I am almost amused at how quickly that legislation is being forced through. It is welcome legislation that will deal with a situation where large multinational companies were buying concert tickets en masseand charging ordinary concert-goers a higher price for them. Why has the same logic not been applied to our housing market? When the exact same principles are being applied in the housing market, the Government has simply closed its eyes and turned away because it does not want to see it. However, in the case of concert tickets, the Government is willing to rush legislation through because it seems like a popular move. It is hypocrisy on the highest scale.

It is hypocrisy to say, even now that we all see the detrimental effect REITs are having on the housing market, that those REITs do not perhaps belong in suburbia but they might belong in our city centres. There is arrogance in walking out of this building, seeing the former communities where there are apartments everywhere and still refusing to acknowledge that people cannot aspire to live, own a house or apartment and raise families in our cities. Two separate sets of logic and understanding are being applied. There is hypocrisy, arrogance and false indignation when the issue of REITs is raised. When the problems are brought to the attention of Ministers, they clutch their pearls. The Taoiseach says somebody should do something about the problem. Of course somebody should do something about it. That is what we are elected to this House to do.

None of these issues is a new phenomenon. The idea of REITs is not new. In fact, they have been with us for more than a decade. The rising cost of housing, exorbitant rents, increasing homelessness and vulture funds are not new concepts. The Government has simply chosen not to do anything about them. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage have done nothing to address them. Now we are hearing that various Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies are clutching their pearls about these issues at parliamentary party meetings. It is this false indignation, arrogance and hypocrisy that has brought us to this position. We are no longer willing to stand for it.

Fine Gael Members had their chance to stop international private funds and say "Enough" when their party was adamant about privatising social housing and creating private rental markets that had investors drooling and rubbing their hands with glee. They chose to do nothing. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and the Social Democrats have brought forward a Bill that has the simple purpose of taking back ownership of long-term leases. When Part V properties are rented from a local authority, the State will own those assets. The Government has said it will not oppose the Bill. We have an expectation much greater than that, that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Ministers will work with us to enforce these provisions in law and will no longer sit on their hands, as their parties have done for decades. It is a minimal request and we intend to hold the Government's feet to the fire to ensure it happens.

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