Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There was much discussion here about innovation, all the benefits that arise through foreign direct investment and taxation, and the wonders that exist regarding enterprise. We all agree on the fabulous work done by the local enterprise offices, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland but we should be absolutely clear that this budget has not brought any solutions regarding the high costs. I am sure all Deputies have got from many businesses the same emails I have got, which state they are still dealing with costs. Even if electricity and energy prices have come down, Ireland is still more expensive than anywhere else across Europe. We have not seen the benefits. The two previous Ministers who spoke could do with having some engagement across government to examine some of the solutions, and even some of those proposed by those on the Opposition benches, based on best practice across Europe in delivering to ensure businesses are sustainable. If the Government members talk to IBEC, IDA Ireland and Irish Small and Medium Employers, ISME, they will hear points similar to those they will hear from the Opposition. These points are about housing, housing, housing and the fact that businesses cannot get housing for their workers. We are talking about inflationary measures and the difficulties we have but we have our own inflationary driver in Ireland, namely the price of housing. To those seeking to find on www.daft.iean affordable house or even an unaffordable rental property, I wish the best of luck. It is an absolute disaster.

We can say what we want about multiple causes and all the rest of it, but at the end of the day the buck stops with the Government. There has been an abject failure for many years in this regard. It started long ago when certain Governments had the notion that the market would look after everything, in the belief that we did not have to invest in council housing. I understand that the current Government realises at this stage how big a disaster this thinking is. This realisation is partly based on poll results, election results and all the rest of it but the fact is that, day in, day out, the members of the Government, like me, encounter people who come to their offices who cannot get a house or afford the rent and who have all the other issues to deal with.

I started by talking about innovation. IBEC, IDA Ireland and ISME say this is the issue.

If we are going to continue talking about enterprise, we will really have to get down to it. There was a time when local authorities, Focus Ireland and others were dealing with homeless services. Those the Minister spoke about having done fabulous work in delivering innovation are saying we need to get a handle on housing. I do not see any proposal in this budget to deal with that. The Government had €2.6 billion to spend on housing last year. It is the same this year. Until we see something that is far more real, we will be talking about Sinn Féin's proposal for 21,000 social and affordable houses and an increase in spending of €1.7 billion.

The Minister, Deputy Coveney, spoke about modern methods of construction. There has been a lot of talk about modern methods of construction in this House. The problem is that they have not often been put into action. That is what we need to see. I assume we have all met firms in our constituencies and people who say that they can ramp up construction and that the technologies are there to make it possible. Some good work has been done but I have not seen it in delivery and in dealing with the fact that no one can get an affordable house, an affordable rental property or a cost-rental property. If the Government will not even set the targets necessary to deliver on this - we all realise it has not delivered on its previous targets - that is accepting failure before we start. There has been much talk of throwing in the towel. That is what it looks like. That is why the term is being used, no matter who does not like it. It is as simple as that. When will we see the use of timber-frame construction to a greater degree, the use of 3D concrete printing or modular homes being built at a level that delivers for those who are suffering at the painful end of the housing crisis? We can talk about it in this House, but at the end of the day most of us are not under pressure or at risk of being evicted. Most of us can afford to pay our mortgages and rents. However, a huge number of people are in a different reality and this budget does not offer them any element of a solution.

On some level we welcome the increase in the tax credit for renters. The only thing is that you only have turn on the radio to hear renters talking about the difficulty of applying for and receiving it. The other thing that was missed in the Sinn Féin proposal - we talked about putting a full month's rent back into renters' pockets up to a maximum of €2,000 - was that we are in a housing crisis, a rental crisis, so the only thing that can be done is to ban rent increases until we deliver supply and the necessary solutions. That is all that will work. Otherwise the money received by those who go through the bureaucracy of applying for it will end up in the pockets of landlords and that is of no addition.

No one would think for a second that this Government would have introduced mortgage interest relief if not for Sinn Féin, and Deputy Doherty in particular, pushing the issue. The problem is that the Government threw a good idea out into the world but removed thousands of people from being able to avail of it. We all know these people are suffering and dealing with issues across the board in respect of the cost-of-living crisis.

I had approximately 16 points to make. It looks as though I will not make many of them.

Health is a disaster. Look at the cost overruns. We see no additional money and no delivery of the promised 1,500 beds. That is before we talk about CAMHS and the €7.5 million increase which, given that we proposed €20 million, is not serious.

I do not see anything for delivering the disability action plan. People will continue to suffer and continue to come into our offices. We will be trying to deal with this client by client and that is not the way to do it.

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