Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Opposition Members who have spoken so far have called for considered debate and claimed nothing has changed in the past year. Those accusations were made by people who are no longer in the Chamber. These are not tropes that should be thrown back and forth but it seems to be what is happening. This issue is too serious for that and we need to consider it more holistically.

It is not true that nothing has changed. For a decade, we had undersupply and Governments that leaned into the market. That is not the case anymore. Now we have a €20 billion multi-annual programme. We have an affordable purchase scheme for the first time in a decade and an affordable rental scheme for the first time in the history of the State. We have new taxes on stamp duty for vulture funds and a doubling of the obligation on developers to deliver social and affordable housing on private sites. We have brought in new tools to deal with dereliction and to provide below-cost owner-occupied apartments and homes, led by local authorities and private developers.

We have turned on all of the taps to try to increase the supply. Things have changed regardless of what the Opposition may say. One need only look at the legislation that has come through this House to fact-check that statement.

The legislation has not made a difference as yet to supply. Some of that has been due to the Covid-19 shutdowns and the supply chain problems related to Ukraine. There has, however, been an increase in supply. The previous speaker mentioned all the indicators going in the right direction.

Let us look then at what is happening in my constituency of Dublin North-West. A recent Part 8 planning application has been approved for the Whitehall and Shangan social housing and senior citizen sites. We have 93 units in Shangan and 83 units in Whitehall on the Collins Avenue site. We have also got social and senior citizens' sites being developed on Parkview and on the Church of Annunciation sites. These would not have happened without Housing for All. Dublin City Council and Ó Cualann also have advanced plans at planning application stage for 52 units at St Joseph’s Hill, Ballymun, 35 of which will be affordable purchase, again for the first time. These are not the only affordable purchase houses in my area. We will have more in Parkview, Balbutcher Lane, Sillogue Road, Oscar Traynor Road and Kildonan Road, and there will be more. These are all public housing projects on public land that is being delivered as a result of Housing for All. It is not true to say that nothing has changed because of the following facts. We have the legislation that everyone can see on the Oireachtas website and there are the planning applications we are starting to see now in each of our constituencies.

This supply is coming on stream. It is affordable and is going to make a difference but we know it will take time. How can one pass affordable housing legislation last year, whether one voted for or against it, and expect that supply 12 months later to have made a significant impact in the market? That is not possible and people are pretending that it is.

What do we do? We have seen an increase in the notices to quit and I am very concerned about the months ahead. This Government over the past two years has introduced eviction bans where it was possible to do so in an emergency situation under the Covid-19 restrictions of not moving beyond the 5 km distance. The Opposition has always called for an eviction ban but it equally calls for a right to housing to be inserted in the Constitution so that we can balance property rights and the right to a home. If that was in the Constitution, it would allow us to make more interventionist moves on something such as an eviction ban. The circumstances over these few months are coming to a position where, on an emergency basis, during the winter, perhaps as a winter initiative, the Government could put in place another eviction ban as we have done before because we need to take a short-term measure to prevent homelessness.

See this speech in context