Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are in a housing crisis because the Government's plan is not working. We are in a housing crisis because the previous Government's plan did not work. The legacy left by Fine Gael's disastrous former housing Minister, Eoghan Murphy, from the by-election area of Dublin Bay South, is something our children and children's children will be the victims of for decades. This is unless real change happens. This is the change that Sinn Féin will deliver. This is not just some ideology. It is a fact and a simple strategy. Our housing policies put people before developers. They put workers and families before vultures and cuckoos. Our housing policies will allow families and workers to have a safe, secure and affordable roof over their heads.

I have seen some of the recent commentary by Fianna Fáil Deputies trying to distance themselves from the failed Fine Gael policies. Fianna Fáil likes to forget it was in a confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael. What did Fianna Fáil have confidence in? Was it confidence in the supply of homes? Let me remind the Minister of what Fianna Fáil had so much confidence in. Not a single affordable home to buy or rent has been delivered by central government under Fine Gael. During Fine Gael's time in office, house prices have spiralled out of control throughout the State. In 2011, the average rent in the State was €781 per month. It is now €1,256. In Dublin it is €1,745, which is an increase of €10,000 a year. In my area of Clondalkin and Lucan, the average rent is more than €2,000 a month and rising. What exactly did Fianna Fáil have so much confidence in Fine Gael for?

The Government is just another form of confidence and supply. Fianna Fáil has taken the baton from Fine Gael. Ordinary workers and families are still struggling with the lack of affordability in housing. The Government keeps making the same mistakes. It continues to prop up developers and investment funds. It is ignoring the advice of experts. Sinn Féin has a plan to build homes and cut rents and will implement this when in government.

People need to get a secure roof over their heads so they can put down roots. The right to a home should be one of the pillars of our society. The motion calls for genuinely affordable homes on the Irish Glass Bottle site in the Poolbeg strategic development zone to be delivered. I commend everyone who has campaigned for public housing on the site. One thing the Government can do is seek to have NAMA's 20% interest in the Poolbeg lands transferred to South Dublin County Council. If real affordable homes are not delivered on this site it will be another example of Fine Gael's dismal housing record that has been supported fully by Fianna Fáil.

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