Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Micheál Martin prepares to leave the office of Taoiseach, it is an appropriate time to reflect on his tenure in office. He has repeatedly said he considers housing the most important social issue in the country but his record tells a different story. It is not a record of problem solving; it is a record of problems multiplying.

The crisis has now morphed into a disaster. The facts speak for themselves. House prices, rents and the rate of homelessness have never been higher. On Friday, we learned that there are now a record 11,397 people, including 3,480 children, living in emergency accommodation. The housing emergency is not always just about bricks and mortar. The price of the disaster is being paid by these thousands of children, many of whom are not meeting milestones, who are losing their childhoods as they grow up in emergency accommodation. Homelessness has almost become normalised. The price is also being paid by the relationships breaking down because of the stress of housing insecurity, by the couples postponing having a family and by the disconnected communities resulting from people being unable to put down roots.

When is this going to end or, at the very least, when are we going to see some tangible improvements? The thousands of people who took to the streets for the Raise the Roof rally on Saturday do not see any evidence that the Taoiseach's Government is treating this crisis as an emergency. I met teachers at the protest who can no longer afford to live in Dublin or other cities and who have no option but to leave the profession or leave the country. It is the same story for workers in other sectors. Our very significant skills shortage is partly a result of this. Who can afford to spend an astronomical €28,000 per annum in rent to live in Dublin or in excess of €20,000 to live in other parts of the country? Pretty soon, the only people who will be able to afford rent in this country will be bankers, who are to see their gold-plated €20,000 bonuses restored with the decision made by Government today.

The Taoiseach is delivering for the bankers but what about the workers in sectors that did not have any hand, act or part in collapsing the housing sector? All they hear from the Taoiseach is broken promises. He says housing is his top priority and yet 11 local authorities failed to deliver a single new-build home in the first half of 2022. Not a single such home was constructed in six months in vast swathes of the country during the biggest housing crisis in a generation. This 11 includes three local authorities in Dublin, where the crisis is at its most acute. Meanwhile, nearly €500 million of the Government's housing budget for the first nine months of this year was not spent. It should be no surprise then that the Government will miss its modest target to build 4,100 affordable and cost rental homes this year. Talk is cheap and the Taoiseach's commitments on housing now lie in tatters. Does he accept that his tenure has been a failure when it comes to housing?

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