Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

By all accounts, this will be the last time the Taoiseach and I speak during Leaders' Questions. I want to ensure constructive engagement rather than engaging in cheap political shots. That is important. It is fitting that I ask the Taoiseach about the issue that, above all else, has defined his Government's term in office, the housing crisis. This affects every family and every community. It is being raised with us every time we knock on doors. I am sure it is being raised with the Taoiseach as well. We know that everyone should have a home and that this crisis is not new. However, it has been compounded year on year by Government inaction, cementing itself as the civil rights issue of this generation and affecting every generation.

The Taoiseach took up his role nearly seven months ago but he has been a member of Cabinet for much longer than that and his Government has been in office for four and a half years. By any objective standard, its housing plan has failed over that time. Rents, evictions and house prices are up. Tragically, the number of people in homelessness is up and is increasing. The slowness of the Taoiseach's Government to take meaningful action on the housing crisis has directly impacted on people's ability to obtain a home and has deprived far too many people of a basic human right. As I said to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, before the recess, over the past four years, the Government could have acted to prevent renters from eviction by passing the Labour Party's renters' rights Bill. It could have acted to keep children out of homelessness by passing our homeless families Bill. Crucially, it could have increased its targets months ago and sought to build more homes. The single biggest impact the Government could have had would have been through the construction of more social and affordable housing, through transforming the Land Development Agency into a State construction company, as we advocated, and through the setting of higher targets, which could have made a real difference.

For some time now, we have all been aware that the Government's housing targets have been a work of fiction. They have been set too low and, in many cases, have not even been met. Successive Government Ministers have conceded to me for over a year now that the targets were too low. Before we broke for recess, I asked the Minister for housing if he would at last provide the revised higher figures before the general election. He did not commit to doing so then. I genuinely welcome the fact that they have now been published and I welcome the Taoiseach's announcement that they will be much higher. However, keeping the targets so low until now has prevented industry from pivoting towards the construction of homes rather than commercial construction. The slowness in other areas has also contributed to delays in construction output. I refer to slowness to amend the critical skills list. During the Taoiseach's tenure as Minister for higher education, we did not see proper action taken to incentivise people to take up apprenticeships or to stay in them.

There is no big strategy for getting more planners, no big recruitment drive and no urgency or ambition to tackle the housing crisis. The ramping up of delivery to the necessary targets the Government is now setting has been delayed by the Taoiseach’s delays. We see no additional capital investment for housing in this budget. The Taoiseach must understand he has gone about this in the wrong way. Does he accept his Government has failed and is continuing to fail on housing?

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