Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy that housing is the single greatest social issue facing the country, and particularly for generations of our young people. It is absolutely essential that we do everything we possibly can to build houses, get supply up, and to provide social and affordable housing: houses that people can afford to buy. The Minister has brought in a range of measures, and is bringing in measures both legislatively and through initiatives, to help people and young people in particular to be able to afford to buy a house. The help-to-buy scheme was expanded and 22,000 people availed of that. The scheme was a benefit to them, even though many in the House opposed it. Likewise, some €700 million is allocated in the budget to affordability measures such as cost rental homes, shared equity schemes, the Rebuilding Ireland home loans and so on. Extra funding has been allocated to the serviced sites fund, which will provide housing through the local authorities that will be affordable for people. Those measures will have an impact.

The Minister has brought forward amendments in the Land Development Agency Bill 2021. The Deputy used the phrase "genuinely affordable", so clearly he is arguing in terms of definitions of what is and is not affordable. The Minister and the Government have approved an amendment to provide for 80% affordable housing in urban areas with populations greater than 150,000. This will provide for 100% affordable and social housing in those areas, given the proposed revised Part V arrangements to be brought in through the Affordable Housing Bill 2021.

It is very important that we get the Land Development Agency Bill through the House before the summer so we can get on with the job of getting houses built and getting houses built on public land that are affordable and social homes, so people can avail of them. I urge everybody, in every political party and on every local authority, to do everything they personally can to get projects through and to reduce delays and opposition to projects that are shovel ready. We need them built. If we do not get supply up then younger people will be denied access to the kinds of affordable housing, the type which the Deputy wants people to have genuine access to, and which I do too. I accept this. We cannot, however, keep on navel gazing forever on these issues. We need to make sure that we build enough affordable houses and social housing for those who obviously require social houses.

See this speech in context