Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One of the key promises that the Government made in advance of the last election was around housing and its delivery. It would be churlish not to acknowledge that there has been a big increase in the amount of housing coming on board. I think we are at a 15-year high. Social housing is also being built, albeit not at the rate that the Government and I would like to see.

However, there is a cohort of people caught in the middle and not being helped, a cohort without whom we would not have this State. In Clare, the threshold for social housing for a single person is €35,000. The lowest level of earnings that someone can obtain affordable housing on under any of the affordable housing schemes in Clare is €55,000, yet there is a large group of people in between the €35,000 and €55,000 who have little hope of getting a home. For example, the first point on the Garda incremental pay scale is €35,322, primary teachers start at €40,625, secondary teachers start at almost €2,000 more, nurses’ entry level is €39,000, local government branch librarians or clerical officers start at €27,000 – in theory, they could qualify for social housing – and the starting amount for a lab analyst is €37,000. As such, a large cohort of people do not qualify for social housing but cannot avail of affordable housing. What will the Government do in its remaining time to give them hope? We worry a great deal about people emigrating, and there are a variety of reasons for them doing so. For example, there are people who emigrate to experience the world and come back. However, one of the reasons young people cite for emigrating is that they cannot realistically hope to buy a house on their starting income levels after completing their education. What does the Government plan to do for these people?

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