Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Last weekend we learned that the Taoiseach's housing policy priority is homeownership. That is certainly news to me and to most people because Fine Gael's tenure in government has proven otherwise. Of course, for much of that time Fine Gael's failed policies were supported by the Minister's party. Since 2011 Fine Gael has driven a coach and four through our planning system, incentivised the wrong type of housing, rolled out the red carpet for vulture funds and, to top it all off, propped up artificially high rents and fuelled prohibitive house prices. That is the party's legacy. Its policies have made it exceptionally difficult for people on middle incomes, especially in Dublin, to aspire to homeownership.

It has been clear for years that the priority for Fine Gael has been to serve the interests of developers and land speculators, not the interests of ordinary workers. The Minister does not have to take my word for it because the figures speak for themselves. In the five years up to 2022, on a country-wide basis, the number of new homes coming to the market dropped by 43.5% despite the total number of newly built properties more than doubling in that same period. Apartments, predominantly for rent, completely took over from regular house building, resulting in a collapse in homeownership. Although no county is untouched by this crisis, Dublin city has undoubtedly been hardest hit. One of the key reasons for this is the type of housing facilitated and dictated by the planning system. Of the 40,400 homes granted planning permission between 2016 and 2022, a staggering 93% were apartments. In 2016, 41% of Dublin City Council permissions were for houses. Does the Minister know how many planning permissions were granted for houses last year?

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