Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: notes that:

— Fine Gael have now been in Government for 12 years, propped up by Fianna Fáil for the past seven years, and Darragh O'Brien TD has been the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for three years; and

— during this time the housing crisis has deepened, and is the biggest threat to Ireland's economic and societal well-being;

further notes with extreme concern that:

— adult homelessness has increased by 44 per cent and child homelessness has increased by 39 per cent since this Government was formed, meaning last month the total number of people in Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage-funded emergency accommodation was 12,441, including 3,699 children;

— rents are up 23 per cent since this Government was formed, and average rents across the State are now €1,507, with new rents in Dublin at €2,063, while thousands of renters have received eviction notices; and

— according to the latest Residential Tenancies Board Q4 2022 Rent Index Report, there was a 7.6 per cent increase in new rents across the State in 2022, and 13 counties have experienced double digit rent increases;

acknowledges that the housing emergency is inhibiting the capacity of businesses to expand, limiting potential investment in respect of new jobs and more importantly adding to the recruitment and retention crisis and delivery of key public services across the State;

condemns that:

— the Government have missed their social and affordable housing targets for three years;

— the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has underspent its social and affordable capital budget by €1 billion; and

— the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage capital budget for 2023 is behind profile by 28 per cent as of June;

resolves that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil cannot solve the housing crisis that they have created, and only a change of Government which prioritises the delivery of public housing can fix the housing emergency; and

calls for:

— a three-year ban on rent increases, and the creation of a refundable tax credit to put a month's rent back in every private renter's pocket; and

— an emergency response to stem the rise in homelessness, including:

— a temporary reintroduction of the ban on no fault evictions;

— an expansion of the tenant-in-situ scheme for social and cost rental tenants;

— the use of emergency planning and procurement powers combined with new building technologies; and

— vacant homes to provide an additional stream of public housing to reduce the number of people in emergency accommodation.

The Ceann Comhairle's Freudian slip was not wrong. Due to the housing policies of the Minister opposite us and his Cabinet colleagues, it increasingly feels like a case of hopelessness for many people.

I want to remind the people listening that Fine Gael has been in government for 11 years, that Fianna Fáil has been propping it up, either through the confidence and supply arrangement or now through a formal coalition, for seven years, and that the Minister has been in office for more than three years. In all of that time, the housing and homelessness crises have gone from bad to worse. Since the Minister entered into office, house prices across the State have increased by a staggering 25%, and they are still rising. This is according to the latest figures published yesterday. Rents across the State have increased by 23%, but this hides the fact that there are some counties that, in three years, have seen rent increases of 40% or 50%. Probably the greatest symbol of the failure of the Minister and his colleagues is the dramatic rise in the number of children, men and women, including over-55s and over-65s, in emergency accommodation. Official figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage tell us that homelessness has increased by 39% since Deputy Darragh O'Brien became Minister and that child homelessness has increased by a staggering 44%.

What does this mean in real terms? Almost 12,700 people are officially classified as homeless. Of course, the Minister knows that the number is much higher, as this figure does not include women and children in Tusla's domestic violence refuges, people in homeless accommodation not funded by the State or the 5,000 people trapped in direct provision and unable to leave because of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's housing crisis. This means that almost 3,700 children are spending one, two, three or more years in emergency accommodation.

Today, the Taoiseach hit a new low. I would encourage the Minister to read the transcript. In an exchange with another Opposition figure, the Taoiseach said that "very many"– that is the phrase he used – people in emergency accommodation had refused offers of permanent accommodation. That was a very serious statement to make by the leader of the Government. What it says is that the Government is blaming "very many" of the people in emergency accommodation – the victims of the Minister's failed housing policies – for their own homelessness. The Taoiseach should come to the Chamber tomorrow and apologise for that remark.

We know why all of this is the case. It is because the Government's social and affordable housing targets are too low and it has not met them year after year. According to the Fiscal Monitor for June, the Government is 28% below profile for its capital spend. It cannot hide behind Covid this year, yet it is off target. I know this is the case because, under the darkness of Ryan Tubridy's committee hearing in the Oireachtas today, the Minister launched 75 pages of nothing. There was no new information and nothing about what the Government was actually in control of. The Minister was asked how many social homes had been delivered in the first or second quarter of this year. There was no answer. He was asked how many genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy the Government had delivered in the first or second quarter of this year. He could not answer. When asked how many actual purchases there were through the two tenant purchase schemes, he had a figure of 2,000 and then 500, neither of which is accurate. Of course, that is the cause of the problem. This Government has failed year after year.

It has never been as hard to be a renter. Renters have never been so insecure, paid such high rents and been at greater risk of homelessness. We have tabled a motion yet again to stand up for renters and to set out once more the kinds of policy that this Government should introduce.

I was on "Morning Ireland", another one of my many media appearances where the Minister was not willing to go head to head-----

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