Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, and his team on all their work on this Bill and their constant determination to ensure greater access to affordable and social housing. Housing is one of the main issues raised by constituents. It is raised by families waiting on social housing lists for years and families trapped in a long-term renting system that was designed only for short-term letting. There is a whole generation of hard-working people who know they will never be able to own a home. This situation did not just happen. It is not an accident but, rather, a direct result of Government policy since the 1990s.

The block-purchased 135 family homes in County Kildare brought some of these issues to the fore this week. They are issues Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has been raising since being elected to this House. The news was greeted with shock and objections from members of the parties in government. I heard on the radio this morning that at last night's parliamentary party meetings, members of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were blaming the current housing crisis on the policies of the other party. I reassure Deputies from both parties that they are equally to blame. Tax breaks and easy lending in the 2000s increased house prices. The real estate investor tax breaks introduced in 2012 facilitated vulture and cuckoo funds, not ordinary people. The housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme replaces the real solution of building social housing with a stopgap rental model that is directing hundreds of millions of euro in pubic money into investment funds.

Dr. Rory Hearne of Maynooth University, who has written a book on these issues, explained yesterday that the Government has created an unaffordable system that is focused not on delivering homes but delivering housing as an investment asset. Our Bill is a direct and specific response to this appalling situation. Social homes should not be an investment opportunity for vulture funds. It is crucial that we stop the completely unsustainable rise in rent and house prices. There has been a 62% increase in rent prices in Ireland over the past ten years. Meanwhile, there was a corresponding 15% increase in the rest of Europe. I have many friends and family members who would love to move home to Ireland but simply cannot. When will this end?

Instead of seeing any kind of end in sight, we are seeing an increase in social housing obligations being met through leasing. Instead of buying properties, councils are entering into long leasing deals whereby the State is paying mortgages for investment funds while people are living in properties they will never be able to own. The repeal of Part V of the Planning and Development Act will prevent this. It will directly help to provide more affordable and social housing. Ultimately, as we all know, tackling the housing crisis requires the State to build and deliver affordable social homes. However, we learned this week that under the new Government housing Bill, a cost of €400,000 for a home in Cork is considered affordable. People are outraged by the absolute ignorance of reality on the part of the Government. Our Bill is a proactive response to the reality of the situation people are facing. It is a focused measure to ensure more families can have homes, be part of a community and feel safe and secure. This is the type of public policy we need.

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