Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We all know there is a housing crisis and I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, was afraid to stay here with me to hear some truths. That is no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. It is amazing when the truth is heard from a rural Independent and a person who is self-employed. I have been self-employed all my life. I understand what a knock-on effect is for housing because I build houses. I have always built one-off houses. I am a small-time builder and a local builder. I tried to use local people and local merchants to support local. That is what I do. In the most recent contract I did, 92% of the people were local to the area. When big contracts are given to multinational companies, 4% or 5% of the people from the local area and the local merchants get the work. This is the difference between knowing what you are doing and working off Dublin standards.

We will look at why we have a housing crisis and the knock-on effect for the 37% of the people who live in rural areas. The Rural Independent Group brought forward amendments to the 2040 plan to allow people to build in rural areas. The Green Party, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael voted against an amendment that would allow people to build on their own land, whether they were part of the farm or not. It is their heritage and it could be their inheritance. All we asked was that the Government would give people a chance to build their own houses on their own land or on a site they may have purchased or been given, once they met the environmental guidelines and the housing guidelines. However, the Government voted against it. Now we have people who want to use their own money and their own land to build their own houses and they are being added to the housing list.

Then we come to successive Governments. When I got here it was 32 years but now it is 33 years that Askeaton has been waiting for an upgrade of its sewerage system. It is pumping raw sewage into the rivers. Glin is in trouble, as are Drumcollogher and Hospital, with sewerage systems. A report shows the biggest contributors to pollution in Ireland are the local authorities from the lack of funding from the Government. I will break it down for Government Members in case they cannot understand. I do not mean to be disrespectful to anyone but in the country we can call people overeducated fools. What we call overeducated fools in certain cases are people who are so well educated they get up in the morning and have to look at a chart to put on their trousers and their shoes but they can run the country because they have no experience of what it is to be self-employed. I am a person who is self-employed and many people involved in fishing who were here yesterday are self-employed. The farmers on whom the Government puts more controls are self-employed. The SMEs that give 51% of employment in Ireland are self-employed. Who does the Government target with all of the taxes? It is the 37% of the people in rural areas.

The Government introduced a carbon tax. What does this entail for people living in rural areas? It means every man, woman and child who needs to go to school, to work or to do the shopping is charged extra tax because they have no infrastructure. They have no bus service. They have no train service. They have nothing. We pay more taxes to support the Government. Where does it put the money? Let us head to Dublin. A minute ago, we heard a Deputy thanking the Minister for providing €5 million to Dublin to upgrade some derelict houses. Every day I come up here I see how tunnel visioned the Government is. Deputy Michael Collins recognised it when he spoke about going past the Red Cow. A red cow could be a white head if people understand farming; but it is the Red Cow. Is this why it was called a Red Cow up here? Is it because when people go past it they have gone into rural areas so they try to stay this side of it? Is that why it is?

A total of 37% of the people in Ireland are going to revolt against the Government for its failure to recognise farming, fisheries, construction and SMEs. It is overtaxing everyone in the 37% to pay for its vision. A Minister said he believes that for a population of 3,000 people, 30 cars are adequate and we can carpool. Tell that to the farmer who wants to get cattle to the mart or somebody in an area who has to cycle to get to a carpooling car to go to work. That Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has not yet commented.

He has been asked to come to Limerick twice. I will put him up for a week. I will give him a house. I will let him be isolated. I will give him a good bike. I will even give him a repair kit in case he gets a puncture on the road. I will tell him to go off and get his shopping, go to work and try to get to here for one week. That is real life.

Let us look at what else the carbon tax has done. I heard another Deputy say that if the rest of the country looked after Louth County Council, houses would be built for €182,000. I will give him a reality check. In the past three months, the price of steel has gone up by 62%. Why do I know this? It is because I buy steel for housing. The price of insulation has gone up by 44%. Why do I know this? It is because I am in construction. The price of timber has gone through the roof - it has increased by 44%. Why do I know this? I know it because I am in construction. Why did I pick out where the problems are? We cannot get our stuff through Dublin Port. We cannot get things through any port with the restrictions that are in place.

Where does the problem lie? It comes back to the Government. A simple solution to felling licences would be to include them in licences granted for planting forestry and growing trees. That would have to be monitored. We are six or seven months into the year and we still do not have felling licences. The costs are being put onto the people who want to build houses. The Minister provided statistics about the cost of building houses, which ranges from €160,000 to €310,000. The cost increase of a 2,600 sq. ft house in the past 12 months is €84,000, a figure which is rising.

I have mentioned the 37% of the people who live in rural areas. We are gathering and coming together fast. Fishermen protested yesterday and farmers have also protested. SMEs and people in rural Ireland will come back up and claim what is rightfully ours, and stop the Government squandering our money. It is putting people into cities. I have uncles and first cousins living in Dublin, but they came from another county. They will also revolt against the Government.

The Government has sent us the LDA, but the paperwork states it will only produce houses in areas with a population of over 30,000. That covers Limerick city. There is more to Limerick than the city because we are a county. I represent the county. The Government does nothing for towns, villages and rural areas. The Government has never given us funding to upgrade our infrastructure so that we can help the environment and address the housing crisis. All it does is put obstacles in our way to stop people doing things on a daily basis and increase costs. All of the services in large cities and towns are using our money from rural towns, villages and areas where the Government is not willing to invest. That is what is wrong with the Government. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, needs to wake up. I will give him a reality check. I will bring him to County Limerick if he would like to come. I will put him up and see how he lasts for a week in a rural area.

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