Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The senior Minister stated earlier that the goal of the Housing for All policy is to support home ownership and to increase affordability. In everything that the Government is doing, it will not radically improve the housing stock or make housing affordable. In fact, in the first year of the policy, the Government has missed multiple targets and house prices and rents are increasing to such a degree that it is making it almost impossible for people to either buy their own home or rent accommodation. The Housing for All policy is just another in a long list of failed housing policies and strategies put forward by successive Governments, including the Minister of State's Government, which has contributed to the crisis we have in housing at the moment.

The senior Minister has put forward housing proposals that will not deliver social and affordable housing on the scale required, nor will his policy build houses that are affordable.

In fact, the Government has admitted in Cabinet that its plans for construction of social and affordable housing are not on track. A number of other crucial targets have been missed, such as the development of a healthcare model for the homeless and the empowering of local authorities to incentivise planning to convert vacant commercial properties into residential homes. The Minister's housing plans, which include schemes such as the shared equity scheme, have proven in the past to result in inflated house prices and increased personal debt. Housing associations, housing experts and economic organisations have judged his housing policy to be ill-conceived and ill-judged.

The Government has, as in the past, placed too much reliance on private developers building social and affordable housing. Local authorities should be the drivers behind the building of social and affordable housing, not private developers. Investment funds are corrupting the housing market by buying up large swathes of housing estates and apartment blocks with generous discounts because they are bulk buying. This distorts the housing market and gives unfair advantage to such financial groups over those struggling to get on the property ladder. This housing policy does not give hope to people, especially at this time, when the homeless figures are scandalously at their highest. The Government should acknowledge that these policies are failing and it is time to change course radically.

It seems that many on the Government side are quoting the Opposition with regard to future housing plans. As Deputy Paul McAuliffe mentioned, some of these plans are for four or five years into the future, such as the Church of the Annunciation site, Jamestown or Shangan, all projects that are well into the future. The Minister should not be trying to deceive people.

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