Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The housing crisis has got worse and worse under the Government. A generation is being failed as we speak. A single person who wants to buy a home can forget about it. It seems like a hopeless ambition for a single parent to purchase a home. Even couples with two incomes and no dependants struggle to get a foothold on the property ladder. A generation is being squeezed out of property ownership. For many it is near impossible to get mortgage approval and for those who do get it, in many cases it is for much less than the cost of any dwelling.

House hunters who believe the State can be of assistance are cruelly let down. They would consider social housing. They work hard and they earn an average or below-average salary. They might try to get a council house or HAP or RAS support. The avenues for social housing are not clear for people whose income exceeds the income threshold of €31,500 for two adults and one child in my home county of Limerick. One could ask what they should do. It appears that the Government expects them to live at home with their parents or to rent. This generation is being bled dry. If they pay rent, they will be paying 44% more than they did in 2016. The average rent in Limerick is €1,293 a month, a 6.3% increase on last year. How are they meant to pay such astronomical rents while saving for a deposit for a house when house prices have increased by 30% over the same five-year period? The median property price in Limerick, as of March 2021, was €220,000.

We need to get house prices under control. To date, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have failed. We need a massive delivery of social and affordable housing. We must provide it because a generation of renters and adult children who are being forced to remain living with their parents cannot afford to wait. The Government must step up to the mark and take significant action on the rental crisis and the delivery of affordable and social housing. The Government must deliver at least 8,000 affordable houses each year and 4,000 affordable purchase houses each year. A first step to demonstrate that this is not the case is to stop the sale and gifting of public lands to private developers and to use this land to build public homes like the type I grew up in. I fear however that the current Minister is not up to the task. He has progressed with his failed housing policy. On the main title under his remit he has failed consistently. I conclude my comments by urging those who want to see an end to the housing crisis to support the motion and assure that this generation is failed no longer.

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