Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Government has shown utter disrespect for democracy this week by barrelling through a deluge of legislation that was guillotined without proper scrutiny. It is a cynical tactic. It shows contempt both for this House and for the people. Some of us have protested very strongly at the Business Committee about this. Unfortunately, however, the Business Committee is not a democracy and the Government does what it likes.

The Government has shown further contempt for this House and, far more importantly, for hundreds of thousands of workers, students, pensioners, low- and middle-income households by failing to take serious measures to protect them from the crushing cost-of-living crisis and the housing and homelessness crisis that are imposing terrible suffering on people at the moment, by going off on this summer recess without taking serious emergency measures to address that, and then, today, not even having the respect to stay for two hours for the last opportunity Deputies have to present the concerns, hardships and difficulties people are facing before the budget. It is utterly disrespectful.

It is why I am very glad that the Cost of Living Coalition, which is a coalition of pensioners, students, trade unionists, single parents groups, Travellers groups and so on, has named the date for what I hope will be a massive national demonstration to put manners on this Government on Saturday, 24 August 2022. When the Government shows that level of disrespect where not only does it not take measures to respond to a dire cost of living and housing crisis, but it will not even stay to listen to those who are trying to present those concerns on the last day of the Dáil term, the only answer is people power. We had to do the same on water charges to get people out on the streets. I sincerely hope that tens of thousands take to the streets to send that message to this Government before it makes the final decisions on budget 2023. When workers, pensioners and students have effectively had their incomes and wages cut by 10%, because that is what inflation means, people are being made poorer. In fact, the less well-off people are, the poorer they are made because the cost of living increases in energy, heating, electricity, petrol, food, diesel and housing disproportionately hurt the people who are least able to deal with them. We, and people on the streets, will be demanding that as an absolute minimum the Government inflation-proofs people's incomes and that we see wages, pensions, student grants, social welfare benefits, disability payments, fuel allowances, living alone increases, child benefit and all of the things that potentially keep people out of poverty - although many people are being driven into poverty - increased at least to the level of inflation. Many of those who are denied supports because their income is marginally above income thresholds and are driven over a cliff when their income goes over those thresholds. They get no support.

I am absolutely furious that this Government has broken its promise to review the social housing income thresholds. It promised that there would be an announcement on that before the summer break. It has gone off without doing so. As the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, pointed out, ten years ago 47% of households in this country were entitled to social housing and social housing support. People were lucky to get a council house, but at least they might get some financial support through HAP and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. The number has dropped from 47% to 33%, a massive stealth cut. Working people who could not afford the extortionate rents and house prices used to get at least some financial support from the State. That has been slashed. The Government has done nothing, even though it has been sitting on the review of that for five years now. The review was published in December 2021, yet the Government will show us the results. It is a nasty, nasty stealth cut. There are issues with all sorts of other thresholds. This week I raised the case of a former An Post worker, now a pensioner, who is getting a semi-State pension. That is all he gets. He is living below the official CSO poverty line. He is not entitled to fuel allowance, a living alone increase or the household benefits package. It is absolutely disgusting. Those thresholds need to be raised for people who need help more than ever. They were struggling before this cost of living crisis, but now they are being absolutely crucified and many of them are being denied any support at all. For those who are getting support, it is totally inadequate. In reality, the income they receive and supports they are getting are worth 10% less than they were previously, if not more.

On the housing crisis, here is a proposal. This is where I am really furious. No disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, but he is the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage and electoral reform. What on earth is he doing taking this debate rather than the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform? Really, I am talking to the officials, who hopefully will pass on some proposals. One of the main narratives that the Government has come out with is to say that we have all this extra corporate tax revenue, but we cannot spend it because it is not a sustainable source of revenue, that it is vulnerable to possible changes and we cannot actually use it to shield people from the cost of living and housing crisis that is absolutely crushing them. I have a suggestion on a sustainable way to spend that money and simultaneously address the crisis. The Government should use that money to buy up the empty properties that are lying around the country. According to CSO estimates, there are 35,000 rental properties and 45,000 houses that are sitting there empty when we are facing the worst housing and homelessness crisis in the history of the State. Buy them. It is a good investment, not a dangerous investment. It would add to the capital stock and housing stock, it would potentially reduce the amount spent on HAP payments and it would be a State asset. It would be an asset for the State when we have some of the lowest levels of social housing provision in Europe. The proportion of our housing stock that is social housing is 9%. The figures for Austria and Denmark are 25% and 19%, respectively. It is important for people in this country to know that all of Europe is being affected by the Ukrainian crisis and is seeing some increases in the cost of living and the cost of housing, but we are far worse off than anywhere else because we have a lower proportion of social housing, because we do not have the rent controls that they have in most of the rest of Europe and because most of the rest of Europe index-links social welfare payments, pensions and so on so they are shielded against the impact of inflation and cost of living increases. Do not hide behind the Ukrainian crisis.

Electricity prices in his country are 26% higher than the EU average. Housing and utility prices are 78% higher than the EU average. Rents in this country have gone up 70% in the last ten years and 19% in the last two years. In the rest of Europe over the last ten years rents have gone up by 13%, a fraction of what has happened here. There is something fundamentally dysfunctional. It is a key point about the cost of living and housing crises that while huge numbers of workers, students and pensioners are suffering, some people are gaining. For some people, it is not a crisis, it is a bonanza. It is a bonanza for the investment funds, the vulture funds, the energy companies, the big food distribution companies and the property speculators. They are making a fortune. Yet, this Government will not even contemplate some redistributive taxes or windfall taxes. Even the Johnson government was willing, albeit under pressure, to have windfall taxes to redistribute some of the super profits being made by these corporations to protect ordinary people from a crushing cost of living and housing crisis.

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