Dáil debates

Thursday, 24 June 2021

Affordable Housing Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

3:40 pm

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government has failed. Despite all of the rhetoric it brings here, the truth is that it has failed on housing. The Minister has missed every deadline that he set. The Minister said he would have an affordable housing Bill in September, then it was by the budget, then it was by the new year. Week after week we have heard more infuriating stories about home buyers being locked out of ownership. The Government talks about ownership, but thanks to the Fine Gael policy of throwing the doors wide open to the wrong kinds of investment funds we know now that not only is the Government supporting these funds through an unfair tax policy, but taxpayer money is being used to assist in the funds buying up the homes. This comes as another slap in the face for anybody who is trying to buy a house, who plays by the rules, who pays sky-high rents or is living with their family while trying to save a deposit. It truly shows where this Government's priorities lie. People expect the Government to make radical decisions and interventions to support working people. Renters, first-time buyers and those in mortgage distress want a break. They want a Minister who does not miss deadline after deadline for legislation. They want a Minister who backs up legislation with State support. Budget 2021 allocated only €35 million for cost rental and €50 million for affordable purchase housing. People want a Minister who does not break election promises.

In its election manifesto Fianna Fáil promised 10,000 affordable homes every year for ten years. Why has it abandoned that promise? So far this year only 569 social homes have been delivered. Direct capital investment in public housing needs to be significantly ramped up in order to meet the social and affordable demand. Fianna Fáil's dream of 10,000 houses per year has been well overshadowed with the Tánaiste's announcement over the weekend of 40,000 homes. Maybe he was sleep talking, I do not know. As far as I remember he was in government for many years as Taoiseach of our country, yet he could not deliver a fraction of what he is now talking about. Maybe it was a bit of dreaming or coverage. RTÉ gave him plenty of time to talk about it and it gave him loads of time again on Sunday to talk about it. When we sit in here and talk realistically there is no sign of RTÉ giving us any coverage. It is an unbelievable situation that a Tánaiste could stand before our country and talk of delivering 40,000 homes. I could stand before any TV camera in the country and dream up figures. I could say that we want 60,000, but we are realists on the ground.

Deputy Bruton said a while ago that we need to meet the needs of families. I appreciate that the Minister of State was here yesterday, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, was here earlier. I was hoping he would stay but I am not having a go at him, I respect that everyone has schedules. I wanted to tell him about the crisis we have in my constituency. I presume it is also a crisis in every other constituency in the State, because if it is not then we have a more serious crisis in west Cork than anywhere else. As Deputy Bruton said, we need to meet the demands of families. Young people are applying for planning permission and they are being refused left, right and centre. There are beautiful green-field sites. The young people's plans pass the architectural rules, the guidelines on the roadside, and perhaps the council is happy with everything. Then, however, there is an issue with the scenic landscape or every other cock and bull story is put before them. It is a complete and utter farce. I was going to ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who left the Chamber a short while ago, if he would consider holding a meeting between himself, the Oireachtas Members of Cork county and the planners in Cork county. We need to set a new stand for the people in west Cork. They need to be assured that if they do pre-planning and tick a lot of the boxes, which are fair, then they would not be caught out on the unfair boxes. Planning is now a no-go area and the Government has let it get to that. It puts further pressure on social housing in my constituency.

We had a very strong and peaceful protest here this week by the fishers of this country. They are angered at the attack on their livelihoods in rural Ireland. The smaller farmers are also angered. Young people are making such gallant efforts, be it in Kinsale or elsewhere. I have lists of people in Bandon, down into Schull, down into Castletownbere, Drimoleague, Dunmanway, Skibbereen, and Bantry who have identified the right sites, they have done everything by the book, they want to get their lives off to a start, they want to take out a mortgage and they can do that. They do not want to be a burden on the State, but the State continues to inflict the most serious of refusals on them. Our Rural Independent Group is very lucky to have a Deputy of the calibre of Deputy Richard O'Donoghue from Limerick who gives us very good and strong advice as he is from the construction sector. Deputy O'Donoghue certainly knows more about planning than any one of us in the Rural Independent Group. I will certainly be listening and talking with him. I do believe that we need to take matters further even if it means that we must converge and block up Dublin city. This would be the only language the Government seems to know. In the fishing crisis we had a whole seven or eight months, and yet when the protest was heading to Dublin on Tuesday the Taoiseach decided to act on it over the weekend and meet with the fishing industry. Is that the only kind of language the Government knows? Why in the name of God can the Government not work towards solutions and not create a crisis point for people? That is the issue here. I will fight tooth and nail for every young person who wants to get planning in my rural community. I want the planners to be taken to account. I want it to work at the top level of government until these people get their planning in a fair way. Once their architecture design is perfect and once the council is okay, then to hell with the other stupid rules that are put there: they are not realistic rules.

They are certainly wagging the tail. I will not stand for it in my constituency. If it means we have to head to Dublin again we will head there. We will bloody well - pardon my language - make serious efforts to put the people's rural planning to the forefront in the next election because it certainly is a massive issue in my constituency.

We look at county development plans. What are we doing? Why are we putting together county development plans? I can guarantee if I had the chance, and I do not get the chance, to sit down to look at what plans are for Ballinadee or Ballydehob and what is in the county development plan for the rural towns and villages of west Cork, I would see plans for another six houses here,18 houses there and 20 houses there. The next thing is that we hear about places like Ballinspittle, where we have good genuine people willing to put in sewage plants and extend them close to Cork city where development could take place, and there are great businesses in towns and villages, and they are being refused. They will do the work when Irish Water cannot do it. We look at Clonakilty, an area that is rapidly running out of water. There is no development and no funding whatsoever. We are okay so long as the rain keeps falling but if we have a dry summer we will have a hungry and dry people in Clonakilty because they will not get water. These are the simple facts and the crisis we are facing. The Government has shut its mind to the real issues. Because it is a rural Ireland issue and an issue in west Cork it is secondary but if there is an issue up here that someone will do without a cup of water in Dublin there will be a crisis and we have to talk about it here for the whole day to resolve the situation.

I have always looked at rural development and the development of towns and villages in County Cork, in beautiful places such as Drimoleague, Allihies, Eyeries, Baltimore or anywhere people would want to go, including Schull and Ballydehob. There are beautiful empty houses in towns and villages. With regard to living over the shop, no proper grants were made available so people could come to live in these beautiful rural communities, whether in Dunmanway or Ballineen. They are fabulous communities in which to live. They have massive facilities that no town or city has and the Government continues to refuse to give them proper funding to build their towns and villages.

There are houses and the best of shops, community centres and schools throughout west Cork but no investment. People want to leave the cities and come to live there. They want to leave the cities and get planning permission in rural communities. There is a crisis in the cities because they cannot cope with it. We can cope with it but we will not be given the opportunity because the Government has its mind set on closing rural Ireland.

There are also difficulties with a massive lack of social housing. I will be doing clinics all over west Cork today, tomorrow and Saturday, and 80% of the people coming before me plead and cry in my office for houses. They literally cry. This is a scandal in this day and age when there are possibilities and solutions, and the solution is rural Ireland. I know the Government does not understand it at all because it does not have a clue where rural Ireland is. It is beyond the Red Cow, and my God that Red Cow is a huge Red Cow because it has the Government blinded. I am telling the Minister of State we will keep the Government's eyes open. Wake up. The solution to the housing crisis is in rural Ireland and I plead with the Government to work with me towards this solution.

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