Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Labour Party on bringing forward this Bill. It does not offer the full solution to our country's diabolical housing crisis but it does provide a significant valuable tool to local authorities to combat land hoarding and landbanking. Herein lies the inevitable challenge. There are existing unregulated land banks where developers distort the market by limiting supply. Owners of large sites have held onto underdeveloped land rather than build new homes because it will depress prices and affect future returns. Over-reliance on market forces will never solve the housing crisis. I formally request that the Minister do something that has never been done here, namely, get his Department to carry out a thorough empirical analysis of landbanking. Let us face facts: the market disregards social justice and certainly does not take into account the common good.

This Bill is based on the principle of social justice and the right of the Government to exercise its constitutional power through Article 44 to delimit, by law, private property rights for the purpose of the common good. In a sovereign republic, the delimiting of private property rights must be subservient to social justice and the well-being of all citizens.

I was contacted by a young working couple from County Wexford. They managed to save a deposit despite paying substantial rent of €920 per month. The house they wanted to buy was valued at €275,000. The agent, advised by the bank, gazumped the price by €30,000 within a week of their bid, putting their hopes and dreams of owning a home of their own out of sight. This is not a one-off; we have seen it happen again and again across the country. It is an indictment of successive Governments that, in 2021, almost 48 years after its publication, we are still trying to introduce the Kenny report, which proposes that land being purchased under compulsory purchase order by a local authority be capped at its existing value, plus a reasonable addition. I again call on the Minister to commission a thorough analysis of landbanking and land hoarding through the Department as it is one of, if not the biggest, obstacle to affordable homes for middle and low-income families. I ask all Deputies to support the Bill.

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