Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We hear time and again from the Government that housing is the most important social, political and strategic issue.

We heard it thrown back at us again today about a monopoly on compassion, which is one of those talking points we hear all the time. That is not contested. We appreciate that there are people on every side of this House that have compassion but the sobering, depressing, frustrating reality is that the housing crisis is getting worse. What is worse than even that is the Government is locked into and committed to policies that will continue to make it worse. I dread to think what the price of housing will be after another four or five years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government.

The reality is that house prices are reaching record levels, rents are reaching record levels and more people, including children, are homeless in this State than we could ever have imagined possible ten or 12 years ago. Children are still doing their homework on the edge of a bed in overcrowded emergency accommodation. The scandal continues, and it escalates, and the Government's policies are adding to it.

We talk a lot about the need for affordable housing schemes and so on. In the last such scheme that was launched in Cork city, the minimum price that somebody paid was €320,000. The maximum was €389,000 or €390,000. How could that seen as affordable for anyone?

Some of the people who come to our clinics - I am sure they come to the Minister's clinics, too - have limited options available to them. I spoke to a woman recently. She is in her early thirties, and she is working hard and full-time. She has annual income of approximately €28,000 or €29,000. She has worked hard to save about €20,000. What could she get? She has been offered a mortgage of €100,000 or something like that. What she could possibly get for that in Cork city, Cork county or anywhere would hardly be bigger than a garden shed. It is just not possible. She qualifies for social housing, but as a person on her own, she could be waiting ten years. All that time, she should be out on her own and living independently. She is working hard and has done everything right, like so many people of her generation. They have done everything that has been asked of them. They go out and get their qualifications, whether it is third level or apprenticeships. They go out and work hard. They work full-time, they try everything they can and they are patient, waiting and trying to hope things will come around. For many of them, though, there is little prospect of that. There is little prospect of their being able to have a permanent home.

The reality is, for all the Government talks about its commitment to this, there needs to be a change in course. What we are seeing is actually the opposite - a doubling down on policies that are failing. There is a need for a significant change of course. The Government cannot keep doing the same thing while expecting better results.

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