Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and his colleagues in the Social Democrats for tabling this important motion, which Sinn Féin enthusiastically supports. In my six short years in the Dáil, Croí Cónaithe cities is the craziest housing scheme any Minister with responsibility for housing has brought before us. It is nothing short of a pro-developer subsidy. There is no price discount on unaffordable market rates. There is no affordability dividend for anyone. To date, the Minister and the Department have been silent on the fact that the vast majority of apartment planning permissions are for build-to-rent, which strictly speaking should not be eligible under this scheme.

We know the vast majority of this Minister’s housing plan is a rehash of the failed Rebuilding Ireland policies of former Ministers with responsibility for housing, Eoghan Murphy and Deputy Coveney, but the only thing the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, has brought to the table is a return to the bad old days of Fianna Fáil Celtic tiger hubris. The Minister, in his remarks, said that tackling the housing crisis means doing things. That is not correct. It is about doing the right things and not doing things that make the housing crisis worse, something he now has a habit of doing.

With respect to the origins of this scheme, my understanding is its origins are within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and a concern among some officials that the gap between affordability and viability was running contrary to the national planning framework and compact growth, exactly as the Minister outlined. We know from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland that the cheapest possible all-in development cost of apartments is €400,000 plus. That means people cannot buy apartments. They cannot be built without forward purchasing agreements, which is why we have the issue of cuckoo funds.

The original idea, as I understand it, was that where apartments would be delivered for €400,000, the developer would get a subsidy of about €80,000 and the apartment would be sold for €320,000. While that scheme, in itself, was not a great idea it has been surpassed by something much worse. I understand there was some concern as to whether the subsidy would be equity, a subsidy or a grant but rather than getting that proposition, the Minister has come back with something even worse. We are now told that the problem is not viability versus affordability but it is viability versus the market price.

I want to read a short excerpt from a very good article by Killian Woods in the Business Postat the weekend because it stands in stark contrast to the figures the Minister quoted here today. Killian Woods's information is based on information from the Minister's Department. The article states:

An expression-of-interest document being circulated to the development industry by the Housing Agency, a copy of which has been obtained by Business Post, shows it is anticipated that the open market value of a two-bed apartment delivered through the scheme will be €390,000. A three-bed apartment is anticipated to have an open market value of at least €450,000.

The article then goes on to detail the various subsidies involved. When the Minister says he believes in homeownership, what is patently clear from this scheme is he only believes in homeownership for the very wealthy, for 14% of households. Is he seriously saying it is now Government policy that the only people who should be allowed live in Dublin city and own their own apartments are those earning €100,000 a year or more?

This is a chronic waste of taxpayers' money. At best, it will lock in unaffordable prices. At worst, it will drive prices up even further. The scheme should be scrapped. There is no justification for taking €450 million and investing it in a way that does not deliver either a discount on market price or genuine affordability. The amount of money that has been quoted in newspapers, with sources from the Minister and the Housing Agency, I am not sure what it is for this scheme over the next number of years, pales into insignificance compared to the amount of money for the affordable housing fund. This year, for example, the affordable housing fund has €60 million. We do not know what the Minister will increase it to next year but, on the basis of the targets, it will not go much above that. Therefore, we have a situation where the only mechanism this Government has designed to deliver affordable homes for people to purchase, and he is not even using that scheme correctly, for example, by delivering homes for €410,000 in O'Devaney Gardens, but even the affordable housing fund, which can deliver genuinely affordable homes if it is used properly, will not get a fraction of the money he is giving to this pro-developer scheme.

I will reiterate Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's comments and those of his colleagues. A number of very simple questions were put to the Minister. I know the Minister will probably not remain for the debate and he will be substituted by his colleague but those questions should be answered and answered in writing. I presume Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has already submitted parliamentary questions in the absence of the Minister giving any straight answers here. I think the rest of us will do so but we need straight answers. For example, if there is an expression-of -interest document being circulated by the Housing Agency, the Minister should publish it. Let us see the information he is giving to developers.

I will conclude by saying this. The Minister comes in here week after week. He dismisses the legitimate concerns of the Opposition. He defends the indefensible while all around him things are getting worse - rents, house prices and homelessness. As we fast approach his being two years in office, it is quite clear he is an even worse housing Minister, in terms of results, than Eoghan Murphy and Deputy Coveney or, indeed, Deputy Kelly, before him.

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