Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Probably 60% of the representations that we receive in our office have to do with housing. This week alone, I dealt with a woman from west Kerry who could not afford housing in Dingle because much of it costs approximately €350,000, a couple from Kerry whose rent had doubled over the past four years, a woman who had been on the housing list for 16 years and was living in a small room in her mother's house, and another person who was fleeing from domestic violence and who, because the council had been unable to contact her after she moved to another place, lost the time she had accrued on the waiting list and was told she would have to wait approximately ten years for social housing.

The background to these cases is that zero affordable houses were delivered in Kerry in 2022 and 2023. If the Housing Commission's warnings about a deficit of nearly 250,000 homes are correct, then even if some had been delivered, they would have been too little, too late. The picture for social housing is not much better. According to the quarter 4 social housing pipeline report, 678 units have been delivered in Kerry over the past four years. That is way below what is required to keep up with population growth. When I was a member of Kerry County Council, I remember how one social house was delivered in Tralee one year and four were delivered the following year. That social and affordable housing targets are missed or are not high enough is a slap in the face of the renters, the evicted, the homeless and the workers of Kerry, entrenching division and creating difficulties in the retention of gardaí, teachers and nurses in the county.

Homeownership is at its lowest level in 50 years. It was reported today that the Housing Commission's report called for a radical strategic reset of housing policy and estimated an underlying housing deficit of approximately 250,000 homes. This is another indictment of the Government's housing policy and comes after Deputy Ó Broin, our housing spokesperson, revealed the extortionate amounts being paid by local authorities for social housing leases.

All of these consequences are the inevitable price to be paid for the Government policies of the past 13 years that have allowed homeownership rates to fall to record lows, facilitated investment companies and vulture funds in hoovering up rental properties, and seen prices for first-time buyers continue to increase. There needs to be increased investment in social and affordable housing, steps taken to ensure better delivery and an end to the cosy tax arrangements for investment funds. There needs to be change and an election as soon as possible.

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