Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank the Minister for the opportunity to speak on this debate which is long overdue. Sinn Féin has been looking for this debate for a long time and we are finally here.

It is only a few short weeks into the term of this Government and already it appears that the Government's housing plan has failed. We have a continuation of the previous Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and their catastrophic handling of the housing crisis. Under these two parties, we saw a record levels of homelessness, with in excess of 15,000 people now in State-provided emergency accommodation. Of these, 586 adults and 204 children, or dependants, availed of services in the mid-west, with 489 of those adults availing of emergency accommodation in my own city of Limerick. Of course, the figure of 15,000 people I mentioned is not the full scale of homelessness across the State; it excludes those couch surfing, those sleeping rough and many others.

The failures of the Government on housing are evident in every constituency in this State. TDs such as myself were inundated with calls from people desperate for accommodation. In my own constituency office, we receive dozens of calls every single day. These calls are from people who cannot afford to rent. How could they when rents in Limerick increased by 19% in 2024 alone? There are people who want to get on the property ladder but cannot with the price of a standard three-bed semi-detached house in Limerick at an average of €380,000. There are people looking for social and affordable housing but the glacial pace of delivery means demand far exceeds supply.

An affordable housing scheme was advertised in Newcastle West, County Limerick. The minimum price for what is called an affordable four-bed semi-detached home is up to €435,000, with a minimum income of €81,301 required. It is an insult to hard-working families that someone would dare to call this affordable. I wonder what planet the person who came up with that price for a house in Limerick was on.

The Housing Commission has been damning in its assessment of the Government housing plans. It described the housing policy as ineffective decision-making and reactive only. It notes that under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, we have one of the highest levels of public expenditure on housing yet one of the poorest outcomes. It is another case of the Government's mismanagement of public funds. It said targets were too low and advised that there is a need for increased delivery of public and private housing, which should be front-loaded.

These are expressions of the Housing Commission, an independent commission established by the previous Government. With this type of criticism and the record of the Government parties in missing targets, why would anyone have confidence in them to resolve the crisis this time? In the lead-up to the general election, as has been said, the Government told the electorate that it would deliver 40,000 homes in 2024. We know this was simply not true and that it delivered 30,000 houses, which is fewer than in 2023. We now know the Department of Finance's housing unit was aware that housing completions were likely to be similar or below the 2023 output. The electorate was deliberately deceived. The commission has outlined what needs to be done. The old maxim is to never reinforce failure, yet this is what the Government seems hell-bent on doing.

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