Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, on bringing forward the Bill. I welcome the fact the Government is not opposing the motion. The Minister says he is going to review it and I hope that will lead to action. The most common issue among my constituents is housing or, I should say, lack of housing, and I know that is the same for practically every Member of this House.

Housing prices are continuing to rise and rents are rising in tandem, and both are happening due to the lack of housing supply. The solution is to invest in social and affordable housing on public land but successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led Governments have removed the ability of local government to build social housing. Now, the Government is exempting big developers from the Part V 20% social and affordable housing provision.

In my own county of Cavan, between 2016 and 2020, Cavan County Council had only 36 new properties built and, under Part V applications, private developers delivered one house to the local authority. There are various categories of people currently seeking housing. Those on the social housing list are waiting maybe seven or eight years and sometimes longer. Many of them asked me can they not be allocated a vacant council house that they know is sitting there idle for months and maybe years, and they would do it up themselves as they are that eager to get a house. They cannot understand why these vacant properties are not being renovated and reallocated. Numerous disabled people are waiting in excess of ten years for social housing because another Government body has failed to provide the support needed to those people. Not only are they waiting on a suitable accessible home, they are also waiting on the support needed to allow them to live an independent life. I know of people who are working and who earn above the threshold for social housing, but they cannot get onto the property ladder because, apparently, they have an inability to show they are saving money on a regular basis. How in God’s name can someone save money for a deposit or show they have a consistent savings trend in a bank account when they pay up to half of their income in rent? I know people who are turning down work to avoid going over the threshold for social housing because they cannot afford the exorbitant rents without HAP. The Part V exemption needs to be scrapped immediately.

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