Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and I can understand her losing her way. It sounded like Fianna Fáil was on both sides of the House speaking about this. I thank the Social Democrats for tabling such an important motion. I fully support this motion that calls on the Government to increase dramatically the delivery of genuinely affordable-to-purchase homes and to ensure that public money is not invested in the delivery of private rental-only developments that are unaffordable to rent and unavailable to buy.

Housing is a critical issue and the failure of ideologically-founded Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael housing policy has produced a crisis of unprecedented proportions. The recently published census results show that the proportion of owner-occupied dwellings continues to fall, down from almost 70% in 2011 to 66% in 2022. We know this trend will only continue as the prospect of young people owning their own home dwindles.

CSO figures released this month show that earnings in my constituency of Donegal remain the lowest in the country. Looking at earnings by county, median weekly earnings for Dublin were 9.9% higher than the median weekly earnings for the State, and a huge 36.7% higher than Donegal, which at €517.93, had the lowest median weekly earnings. Taking this into account, we need to consider how this impacts those looking to buy a home. Mortgage providers look at peoples' wages to determine the amount they may borrow. The median Donegal weekly wage translates into €26,889 per annum. I rounded this up to €27,000 although I doubt banks would be so generous, and I put it into a few mortgage calculators. A single person on this wage, with no dependants and no monthly outgoings at all, which we know is virtually impossible, may be eligible for a mortgage of €89,487.

Taking this figure, I looked to see how many homes were for sale in the entire county of Donegal. One hundred and eight were available for under €150,000 and only 35 were available for under €100,000, which would still be way beyond the reach of the average person according to the figures. In the entire county four were available for under €75,000. I am sure it is no stretch of the imagination to picture how derelict and unfit for habitation these four would be without considerable renovation and expenditure. Following this, a quick search of Airbnb showed me that more than 1,700 Airbnbs are available in the county. This is beyond shocking. I have had numerous couples tell me that they have had to separate and move back in with their parents because of a lack of accommodation in the area and the county while, at the same time, we are tripping over Airbnbs.

This is not unique to Donegal. It is a national problem. People are struggling to make ends meet. Add to this the uphill battle of trying to save for mortgages and it creates a sense of national hopelessness. In February the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, gave pre-legislative commentary on the problems being faced due to inflation and increased costs of building. For those who may have family land or own a site, the uncertainty of costs due to recent surges in inflation make building or renovating a worrying prospect.

In the same pre-legislative address both CIF and Property Industry Ireland noted that planning restrictions and objections are creating a barrier to homeownership. They are hardly who we should rely on for statistics but the Government seems to think they know everything. While the rural development strategy serves a purpose in creating more congregated residential areas in rural areas, in a time of a housing crisis it may be timely to consider leniency and flexibility where possible. This is not a call for a lack of planning and careful strategy but they can exist in proportion to allowing for homeownership. We also need land to be opened up in our towns and villages. The only way this can be done is through the State taking a role and getting involved to encourage people to move into towns and villages.

The Taoiseach stated the many benefits of home ownership yesterday during Leaders' Questions. He mentioned security, financial freedom and having options. The home has an important place in the Irish psyche, especially given the fact that our rental sector is so insecure. If the Taoiseach acknowledges this then I urge him either to support this motion or allow Ireland to fall in line with other lifelong rental countries and their policies and provide mass-scale social homes for low and middle earners. This requires a move from the neo-liberal policies being pursued by the Government.

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