Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete the following words:

"—extend the Help to Buy scheme to first-time buyers of second hand and vacant properties;"

I thank the Regional Group of Independents for bringing forward this motion. It is a very timely motion. We in Sinn Féin welcome any opportunity to contribute to a debate about vacant homes and how we need to do better on being in a position to return them to use.

GeoDirectory indicates there are around 90,000 vacant properties across the State. This is a scandal. No-one would come into the House and say anything else other than that this is an absolute scandal. It is evidence the Government schemes have not worked. Whatever has been done to date has not worked and 90,000 vacant properties indicate this. We must do much better in this regard. We know that when it comes to refurbishing and bringing homes back to life, or whatever word you want to put on it, this approach is much more environmentally-friendly than building from scratch. We all know this and need to be conscious of it. It is also cheaper than building from scratch. I do not understand why more cannot be done. The Minister of State spoke about the need for activation. There is a real need for activation, that is, for every single lever the Government has at its disposal to be pulled. Every single opportunity to house a family that needs a home should be taken. In our alternative budget, Sinn Féin allocated 20% of our public housing target to be delivered via vacant homes.

Sinn Féin broadly supports the motion before us this afternoon. The amendment we have put down is intended to be a friendly one. We understand the recommendation to extend the help-to-buy scheme to second hand and vacant homes is very well-intentioned but we cannot support it. Help-to-buy as it currently stands is inflationary. It increases house prices. This is clear when you look at the house price inflation taking place across the State. The latest CSO figures show house prices have increased by 14.8%. Prices in Dublin are rising by 13.3%. I am conscious of how anyone who is struggling to save up to get their first home - I do not use the awful phrase "getting onto the property ladder" as it is no more a ladder than I am the man in the moon - might feel when hearing of 13.3% rise in prices in Dublin and a 14.8% rise nationally. House price inflation is astronomical at this stage. The Border regions continue to experience extreme house price inflation of up to 24.7%. Extending the help-to-buy scheme will only add to these inflationary figures and therefore we cannot support this point. We also have some concern about the first-time buyer grants of €30,000 for the refurbishment of vacant and derelict properties. Again, I understand the motivation behind this measure but I have concerns about how it would work in practice. How would it be ensured the €30,000 is not just swallowed up and then added on to the selling price, which would again crease the people who are trying to buy their first homes? Would this be the maximum amount available? Would smaller grants be available? How would it be ensured the grants are tailored to households that really need them? As I have said, the amendment we have put down is intended to be a friendly one but we have some questions and concerns.

I referred to my next point a few minutes ago. The Minister of State talked about the need for activation and in the minute and 20 seconds remaining to me I raise an issue I have raised with the senior Minister in the Department, the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach, the Department of Health and the HSE. It is grand for the Minister of State to talk about activation but actually doing it would bring into use12 homes in my area that are vitally needed. There are 12 units at the entrance to St. Ita's Hospital. They are in the ownership of the HSE and have been vacant for some time. I understand the HSE is amenable to leasing the units to the council for a nominal fee. The council, it appears, is not hostile to developing these 12 units. I raised this in the previous Dáil with the Department of Health so it is perhaps five years since I first raised it. It seems no progress can be made. I urge the Minister of State to look at the St. Ita's site and the potential to bring 12 homes back into use. It would be significantly cheaper than knocking them and rebuilding and there is a real need for housing in my area. The Minister of State's Department and the council have discussed the capital assistance scheme, CAS, potentially being useful. That would be a good point to start with but I ask the Minister of State to take a look at this and put the word "activation" into active use.

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