Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

What is the way forward for Irish society? Is it housing for people or housing for profit? The Government's answer is clear. It is for housing for profit. If you want to see what that has led to, all you have to do is go to Belcamp Manor in Balgriffin in Dublin, where a vulture fund has snapped up 46 of the 54 new builds in that estate. The vulture fund is the DWS Group, an €800 billion German asset manager with majority control in the hands of Deutsche Bank. What rents will it charge in those 46 properties that it has spent €21.5 million purchasing? The average rent there is €3,175 per month, which is more than €38,000 and nearly €40,000 in rent per year. That is where the Government has led us to. We saw another example in recent days of where housing for profit brings us to. The Fianna Fáil benches are stuffed full of landlords. The Fine Gael benches are stuffed full of landlords. What do the landlords really think?

The Ditchhas told us in the last 24 hours that it got access to three Facebook groups of three landlord groups, including Landlords Ireland, Advice and Support for Landlords, and Irish Property Investors. On those Facebook pages, one case was being discussed of a council which ordered some changes post an inspection, including changing the smoke alarm and changing carbon monoxide monitors.

Not one or two landlords, but many landlords said to ignore that advice, that the council would not get around to them, the second time around. One landlord asked who to allocate housing to. One landlord replied that a single mother at home all day will cause more wear and tear on the property than working professionals and to go for working professionals. That is what putting profit above people means. We need more social housing, much higher targets and they need to be delivered.

In Knocknaheeny in Cork, in phase 2 of the Knocknaheeny regeneration, there are 24 new homes at Kilmore Road, which are half built with no work done on them for an age. Construction has stopped. A protest has been called to take place this Saturday at 12 noon. I urge people in the area and on the north side of Cork to attend that protest. It is a disgrace. The work needs to restart. The council needs to be put under pressure and we need homes for people, not for profit.

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