Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It was already hard enough for young people, people trying to start out and people trying to have a home of their own. It was already hard enough trying to pull together a deposit with extortionate rents and with housing not being available anywhere near them or their communities. It was already such a challenge for many workers. The Minister is making the argument that this is an issue that has appeared overnight and has just come to light. The Minister knew this was happening in many communities around the State and he wrote the rules to encourage the institutional investors. Workers who are paying rents that are through the roof are competing with these international funds that can buy up whole estates and gazump them completely. It is soul-destroying for people of my age who feel they have no hope of ever having a permanent home. For them, income limits for social housing have not been changed in years and many of them do not qualify for that. The possibility of ever having their own home or a mortgage is completely out of their reach.

Some of the talk has suggested that the Government is delivering and that this is a key priority. Let there be no mistake; we have supported many measures that have been productive and useful but where they are failing, we will criticise them and make noises. The Bill the Minister has produced will not deliver and his policies will not deliver. I hear talk of affordable housing with prices up to €400,000 in Cork city. That is like Marie Antoinette and let them eat cake to people. It is Monopoly money to people. It is not anywhere near the mark to charge €400,000 for an affordable house in Cork city. It is beyond any imaginable reach for ordinary workers and families. This is one thing the Minister needs to do. There is an awful lot more and it is focused on cost rental and public housing but he needs to ensure that the advantage and incentives he has given these funds are removed.

See this speech in context