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

I support the Bill and thank Deputy Cian O’Callaghan and everyone involved in bringing it forward. Part V long-term leasing is a cosy deal for developers, which leads to social holding being turned into a commodity under the watch of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Part V long-leasing, combined with investment funds buying entire estates, as we have seen this week, will not solve the housing crisis but will in actual fact make it much worse. The Government is continuing to rely on passing the buck onto the private sector and developers to tackle the housing crisis. It has never worked, it will never work and it will only make developers and speculators rich.

In Cork, more than 8,000 families and individuals are on the social housing waiting lists, while there are 400 families and individuals in emergency accommodation. Cork City Council should be able to purchase these properties under Part V and not have to long-lease them. The council should not have to rent them for 25 years at exorbitant amounts from unscrupulous developers who are holding both Cork and our country to ransom. There is no surprise and no sense of irony by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, who brought forward a proposal to Cabinet this week that would see affordable homes up to the value of €400,000 in Cork. What planet is that man on that he thinks housing at €400,000 is affordable to anyone? Housing prices have risen by 11% in Cork. How can the Minister of State and this Government stand over policies and these prices? The Government promised affordable homes, it built up expectations and it created hope in people’s hearts and minds but it has stolen that hope away again.

The pockets of developers and speculators will be lined while the people of Cork and this State will continue to be locked out of home ownership. The dream of ordinary people to own their own home is slowly vanishing under this Government and developers and investments funds are laughing all the way to the bank. Today it has taken an Opposition Deputy to bring forward this Bill to try to fix a problem caused by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Yesterday, the Government refused to support Deputy Ó Broin’s Bill to support renters and the day before it decimated people’s hopes, including young families and individuals, of an affordable house. For the sake of everyone, I hope the Minister takes tomorrow off because people cannot live with these types of policies.

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