Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have three minutes. I will do my best to remain focused in those three minutes.

I have with me the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness from 2016. The only difference I see between that plan and the new plan is that two Deputies introduced that plan and three Deputies are introducing this plan. In the previous plan, we were told by the then Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, that, "A truly ambitious social housing programme of 47,000 units to 2021 will be delivered with funding of €5.35 billion." It did not happen. The former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, told us the range of options set out in the plan was ambitious. I also have with me the new plan. I read both plans, so sad is my life, to try to see if there was something positive I could say, which I can. There are some positive initiatives in the plan. My difficulty is that the Government is following the same failed model. We are being accused of ideology. I do not think the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is going to listen to me, but I was elected to give voice to those who think differently and who want to give constructive criticism and show there is a different way.

The Minister made a speech today. In case we were in any doubt, he told us that this is a plan for the so-called squeezed middle. I hope the Minister of State hears that. He is part of this Government that has a plan for the squeezed middle. In the Minister's foreword to the plan, he repeatedly uses the phrase "squeezed middle" and keeps telling us about it, in case we were in any doubt. In two and a half pages of a foreword, he mentions the squeezed middle four times. He then tells us who the squeezed middle are. In case we do not know who they are, we are told they are the "people who work hard and play by the rules but seem to have nothing to show for it at the end of the day". Can you imagine that as a basis for a housing plan for all to inspire confidence? How could something as divisive and terrible as that inspire confidence in us?

I think about beautiful Galway city. Tá me thar a bheith bródúil as. Rugadh agus tógadh mé ann. Tá géarchéim úafásach ann atá ag leanúint ar aghaidh bliain i ndiaidh bliana. We look at that and we see the homeless figures. Nationally, 8,212 people are in emergency accommodation. In Galway, there are 241 homeless adults in emergency accommodation. House prices have gone up by 14.3%. People are on a social housing waiting list going back to 2005. A housing task force that was set up in 2019 has never once produced an annual report that I have had sight of. One of the nine terms of reference stated it would produce such a report. We are being accused of ideology. The ideology is on the part of Government that believes the market will provide. The market has utterly failed to provide. There is a role for the market, but the State has a role to play in conveying the strong message that we are not talking about a home as a commodity. A home is the most basic unit and we must provide public homes on public land that will bring down the price of houses. The Government is artificially keeping house prices up.

I understand that more than €1 billion will go into HAP alone. I welcome the fact the Government is going to phase the scheme out gradually, but it was one of the biggest mistakes. When there is talk about billions going into social housing, it is going into the private landlords' pockets.

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