Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Inné, chuir an Phríomh-Oifig Staidrimh níos mó drochscéil ar fáil d'oibrithe agus do theaghlaigh atá ag iarraidh dul ar an dréimire tithíochta. Tá praghsanna tithíochta anois níos airde ná mar a bhí siad le linn am an tíogair Cheiltigh. Is sampla eile é seo den teip ar phlean tithíochta an Rialtais. Ní thiocfaidh deireadh leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta seo go dtí go mbeidh athrú polasaí agus athrú rialtais ann. Yesterday, the CSO published a report on property prices. It contains more bad news for workers and families looking to buy a home, with many of them now desperate for somewhere to call a home that is affordable. Today, we have reached a new milestone. House prices are now higher than they were during the Celtic tiger era. Spiralling house prices confirm that the Tánaiste's Government's housing plan is failing. Homeownership, the dream of many Irish families, is in decline, and all on the watch of this Government. The consequence of all this is that too many people are being forced into an expensive and insecure private rental sector that does not meet their needs. It is a vicious spiral.

The only way this housing crisis is going to be brought to an end is with a general election, a change of government and a change of housing plan. I say this because all the evidence shows that the Government's policies are making things worse. The affordable housing targets are pathetically low, and even these low targets are not being met. Does the Tánaiste agree that the Government has failed to meet its affordable housing targets every year, in 2020, in 2021 and in 2022? It seems that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is so embarrassed by his own failures in terms of affordable housing that he is refusing to publish the number of affordable homes delivered last year. We still do not have those figures.

It is a fact that many of these homes being delivered are not affordable in the first instance for most workers and families. Let us not pretend, then, that affordable homes, with all-in costs of €435,000 in parts of Dublin, are somehow affordable for ordinary workers and families, because they simply are not. It is time for a change of direction. What we need is a plan that meets the scale of the challenge we face, and Sinn Féin has this plan. Capacity, pace and affordability are key, but so is political wiliness. Political priority is key here. In our engagement with builders, approved housing bodies and other players in the market, they are all telling us the same thing, which is that there is capacity to do more with proper State support.

If it is not the number one priority for the Government, then the housing crisis is going to continue as it has done every year during this Government's term. It has been four years since the general election. Is it not fair to say that when we measure the performance of the Tánaiste's Government against house prices, rent, homelessness and homeownership, it has not just failed but failed spectacularly? We have an entire generation the length and breadth of this State locked out of homeownership and losing all hope of having a future in this country. This is the reality. I am sure the Tánaiste has met these people as much as I have. They are leaving in their droves for London, Canada and the US. Many of them are now going to Australia.

I ask the Tánaiste to answer these questions honestly. Does he accept that his Government has missed its affordable housing targets every year since it entered office? It is a fact. Does the Tánaiste accept it? Does he accept that runaway house prices, even surpassing those reached in the Celtic tiger era, are locking entire generations out of homeownership? Does he also accept it is now time for a plan that will deliver affordable housing at scale and where homes will be genuinely affordable for ordinary workers and families? This is something the Tánaiste's Government has failed to produce up until now.

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