Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

What we have said is that the private sector on its own is not delivering, that there is a large affordability gap and that there is a greater role for the State and the not-for-profit sectors. If it does not see that and thinks its housing policy is working, that shows how deluded the Government is.

It is disingenuous to say that 100% stamp duty on bulk purchase of homes would prevent forward funding. It does not. As the Minister of State must understand, stamp duty on bulk purchases is on purchase transactions. That does not prevent forward funding. It does prevent the buying up of existing homes. A report published last year by the Central Bank found that 78% of the homes bought by investment funds were existing properties. That is the problem we are seeking to address.

For example, 500 new homes are being built in my constituency. They are being financed through the State and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is one of the main sources of finance. Those homes, however, are going to be sold to an international fund instead of being made available to people at affordable prices. Why is public money being used to build homes to be sold to international funds? The idea that it is all being used for forward funding is simply incorrect.

The Minister of State said that EU funding streams are already being accessed. Whoever wrote his reply clearly has not read the report by Housing Europe, which was commissioned by a Fianna Fáil MEP. The report goes into great detail about the EU funding streams that could be accessed but are not being accessed by the Irish State. Those funding streams could be used to help to build affordable homes. The Taoiseach was clear last week that he has not read the report and it still has not been read.

There are solutions to the housing disaster. The Government could introduce affordable housing zoning to ensure that land is available for affordable homes at affordable prices. It could introduce savings schemes such as Livret A in France. That scheme has leveraged billions of euro of savings into affordable housing. The Government could also consider those proposals from Housing Europe. Instead, the response of this Government is to offer tax breaks to developers and garden sheds to everybody else. We need a more serious approach from the Government. The senior Minister should attend housing debates and engage constructively with us.

See this speech in context