Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Not a single affordable house will be provided over the next four years in counties Monaghan and Cavan, which I represent. That is not speculation or a guess on my part. It is the target number of affordable houses the Government has set for my constituency. Some might say that at least there finally is a housing target the Government will meet. In fact, it is a scandalous statement of reality. The Minister's response or justification, in essence, will be that house prices are not expensive enough in those counties to warrant being considered for inclusion under the affordable housing scheme. This is despite the fact that house prices in the Border region increased by almost 25% last year and 17% the year before. How high do prices have to get before affordable housing will be provided?

The truth is that homeownership is already beyond the reach of most young workers and families and, at the same time, rents are completely out of control. I want the Government either to accept that it is incapable of recognising the scale of the challenge or to admit it is not serious about meeting it. It is one or the other. We cannot say we are serious about homeownership and delivering houses, as the Minister does in this House from time to time, while a couple with four children earning €27,000 cannot get on the social housing list in my county, cannot pay the rent and will never be in a position to buy their own home while the Government provides no affordable housing option to them.

It is time to get real. Either we accept that Deputy Ó Broin's policies are there and ready to be implemented and will make a difference or we carry on as before with one false promise and one false dawn after another. The truth is now evident: this Government and the parties that make up the Government simply do not have the capacity to address the housing needs of our people.

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