Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are once again in this Chamber debating affordable housing and the desperate need to deliver it. Cork City Council has been beating its targets in this regard for years. In fact, it exceeds them in many years. Right now, the council has been given a target of delivering 278 affordable houses and those homes are in the pipeline to be delivered. The problem is that the targets are too small and not ambitious enough. My colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, has set out a target of 4,000 homes a year, which would equate to a target of 400 a year for Cork City Council, or 10% of the social housing stock in the city. This would turn out at a total of 1,600 homes. The difference between the Minister's plan for 278 homes a year and our plan for 1,600 reflects the fundamental difference between us in that the Government is not ambitious enough and does not understand what needs to be delivered.

The Minister's figures are just a drop in the ocean. My fear is that the Government is so out of touch and so misled in its priorities that the housing crisis will continue to get worse. In my maiden speech in Cork City Council in 2009, I said that we had a housing crisis. Thirteen years later, the crisis is worse now than it ever was. That has happened under the watch of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Instead of falsely accusing Sinn Féin of objecting to housing provision, which he does at virtually every opportunity he gets, the Minister would be better off looking at why a person appointed to An Bord Pleanála continued to vote for housing developments even after the Minister appointed a senior counsel to investigate serious allegations relating to conflicts of interest at the board. Why do certain people in high positions, who are friends with Ministers and who earn more than the Taoiseach, feel they are above the law and above the Government?

The problem is that the priorities are all wrong. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael prioritise speculators and developers, whereas Sinn Féin prioritises ordinary people and the delivery of affordable housing. My colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, is bringing forward solutions. It is all about finding solutions but, when it comes down to it, the Government is all about politics and looking after the big people, the rich people and the developers. That is the fundamental difference between us and it is why we have brought forward this motion. Deputy Ó Broin's proposals will make a real different to ordinary people's lives.

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