Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Government's announced proposals to deal with the activities of the vulture and cuckoo funds are hopelessly inadequate, completely pathetic and not a serious attempt to deal with these cuckoo funds at all. In reality, the Government is beholden to these funds and deeply implicated in having brought them into the housing market. The 10% stamp duty will not act as a disincentive. These firms have the funds at their disposal to outbid ordinary working people. The provisions will not apply to apartments, which is where most of these funds are active. The planning regulations, similarly, will not apply to apartments or to all the strategic housing development planning permissions that are in play, a flood of which have gone through recently. These proposals are therefore not a serious attempt to deal with this issue and, to use a phrase the Taoiseach often uses, they will not deliver one extra affordable house for working people or make the unaffordable rents in the housing sector affordable. Neither will they deal with the scandal that was revealed at the weekend. The explanation for the Government's not taking serious action against the vultures and cuckoos is that the State is up to its neck in investing in these cuckoos through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, formerly called the National Pensions Reserve Fund. I have just discovered that this includes investment in Bartra's co-living proposal in Dún Laoghaire. The State is building box apartments with Bartra. It is investing in short-stay aparthotels. This is unbelievable. Then in many cases these properties will be leased back to local authorities or they will fund the profits of these investors through HAP payments, 40% of the revenue from which go into the pockets of corporate landlords.

The paper I am holding shows what these funds are saying about the profits they can make through leasing deals with the local authorities. The crowd behind this paper is called Housing Together. It boasts of Government-backed leases of ten to 25 years, unrivalled covenant strength, net initial rental yield of 5%, being ideal for investors seeking high income at low risk, the opportunity to lock in rents linked to inflation, no management of tenants, no rental collections or chasing arrears, no internal maintenance, no voids, no letting fees, no advertising costs and no ongoing refurbishment costs. Why? Because the local authority will pay for all that and at the end of the 25 years, the vulture fund, not the State, will own the property. We are, therefore, paying for this, the vulture funds and the cuckoos are running off with the profits and we have nothing at the end - no security, no affordability and no affordable rents. It is a scam and a swindle of Mafia-style proportions. Why are we not paying to build our own stock that is actually affordable for ordinary working families?

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