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

According to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's figures, if it meets, or slightly exceeds, the target for social and affordable housing in my area there will be more people on the housing list in four years' time than there are now. That is how inadequate the policy is. We need additional measures beyond what the Government has done to date.

On the issue of buying properties, are rent supplements included in the HAP and RAS purchases? We need clarity on that. People who are over the threshold because they have not been raised are left in limbo if they are faced with eviction or are already homeless. Furthermore, there is planning permission already in existence for tens of thousands of units. Planning permission is not the problem. The problem is whether units are going to be built. It is looking like the private sector may not deliver them. Will they be affordable when they are built? There is no point in selling houses at extortionate prices and saddling people with huge debts or extortionate rents that people cannot afford. That is why we need a State construction company and for income limits to be raised. What about a serious vacant property tax to force the empty units back into use?

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