Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar fud an Stáit, inár gcathracha, ár mbailte agus ár sráidbhailte, tá daoine ró-eolach ar an bhfadhb ó thaobh tithíochta foilmhe agus tréigthe. Léiríonn sonraí atá eisithe ag an Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta nach bhfuil ach 21 deontas tarraingthe anuas faoin deontas athchóirithe do thithe folmha le bliain go leith. Níl fiú amháin deontas amháin tarraingthe anuas i mo chontae féin i nDún na nGall agus is sampla eile é seo den dóigh ina láimhseálann an Rialtas an cheist seo. Tá go leor cainte ach níl na torthaí le feiceáil.

This week, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, published his housing progress report and he need not have bothered because the progress has been glacial. The reality is that the Minister’s party and Fine Gael have created the housing crisis, and the longer they remain in office, the worse things get for ordinary people. That is the reality of the situation. All of the schemes they have introduced are failing to meet their own targets.

The Minister's housing progress report was notable for the complete absence of information relating to one of the schemes in particular, the vacant property refurbishment grant. It is little wonder why. The details of this scheme, published separately by the Department, are staggering. In the past 18 months, only 21 grants have been drawn down from the Government's flagship scheme, that is, 21 grants in 18 months. Throughout the State, in our cities, towns and villages, people are all too aware of the scourge of dereliction and vacancy, something that grates all the more as people face a deepening housing crisis. Yet, despite this, despite the tens of thousands of vacant properties that blight our cities, towns and villages, this is a scheme that is completely failing to turn vacant properties into homes for workers and families.

When it was launched 18 months ago, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, had not even engaged with mortgage lenders. As a result, applicants were not able to draw down mortgages on their grants until the issues with the banks were resolved one year later. The scheme has also been criticised by applicants as the grant is paid in arrears. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, has got the same type of correspondence that all of us in this House have got. Many of these applicants simply do not have the money or do not have the cash upfront to be able to pay for the works. The scheme is also chronically underfunded, with an annual target of bringing between 400 and 600 homes into use as a result of the money that the Government has allocated towards the scheme.

There is an alternative. Sinn Féin has put forward a more ambitious proposal that would bring vacant and derelict properties back into use. Through the increased use of capital funding to local authorities, we want to see up to 4,000 vacant and derelict properties a year brought into use for social and affordable housing.

The Government must be far more ambitious when it comes to tackling dereliction and vacancy. My own home county of Donegal is one of the worst affected by dereliction in the State yet not a single grant has been paid out there under the Government scheme, 18 months on. It is as if there is no crisis here. Eighteen months on, there has not been a single grant in Donegal and only 21 grants across the State. In the Minister for Finance's home county of Cork, not a single grant has been paid out in the city or county despite widespread dereliction in County Cork and Cork city and the very visible campaign to highlight and address that. As with so many of the Government's housing policies, it has been caught trying to pull the wool over people's eyes - launching a scheme with much fanfare, talking it up, but completely failing to deliver. That has been the hallmark of the tenure of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien - all talk, no action and plenty of bluster.

Will the Government now accept that the vacant property grant as currently administered is not fit for purpose and is in need of review and overhaul? Will it take on board Sinn Féin's proposal to ensure that we have a proper plan to tackle vacancy and dereliction, and that it is put in place so it delivers not tens of homes, as is the Government’s plan, or hundreds of homes, but thousands of homes that are badly needed for workers and families throughout the State? That is what is needed. That is the level of ambition. That is the proposal we have put forward. That is the funding we have sought in the alternative budget. That is what is needed for families and workers across the State.

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