Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The motion calls on the Government to declare a housing emergency, which extends to student accommodation. Students are being forced to defer courses or to live in wholly unacceptable arrangements. The last three budgets of this Government did nothing for student accommodation, despite there being projects that could deliver 3,000 student beds that were just sitting on the shelf, as the Minister knows. The attitude of the Government, which students and I despair about, is to take our time. There is no sense of emergency in what the Government is doing. We spent the past two hours listening to Government Members lauding themselves for the few pennies they gave to people on social welfare, and yet rents continue to rise.

In Mayo, new rents have increased by an average of 18.5% this year. Over the past two years, I have raised the need to expand rent pressure zones in Mayo, particularly in Westport. On top of this, Mayo is left out of the affordable housing scheme. The Taoiseach will come into the Chamber and say nobody has given him any ideas to do anything. The Minister justifies this by claiming that Mayo does not have an affordability issue, but people are being pushed into poverty and homelessness. The Minister has told the people in Mayo, on several occasions that this is no emergency. A few months ago, I pleaded with him to extend the existing housing policy. Imagine one's rent going from €970 to €1,650 per month, as happened in Westport.

Last night, I attended another pyrite meeting in Westport and listened to homeowners in despair about what is ahead of them with rebuilding and finding alternative accommodation, with no houses to rent when they want to move. Will the Minister give money to Mayo County Council to build modular homes in Westport to allow people to leave their homes, on a temporary basis, so that their homes can be rebuilt? In addition, will they be able to rent from people they know, not necessarily landlords because there are none in Westport, so that they can move out of their houses? I speak on behalf of people in Mayo, and in other counties, who are living in social houses impacted by pyrite. They are watching the houses fall down around them, while other such houses are vacant. They need the money to get those houses fixed or rebuilt. Anyone who thinks there is not a housing emergency should come to Mayo and talk to the people there.

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