Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Healy on bringing this motion seeking to make housing an emergency. I am gobsmacked. Here we are again looking at a sole face over on the backbenches. Not only is housing not an emergency for the Government, it is not even a priority. The Minister did not even use his full time. He had three minutes left. None of the backbenchers who have been talking about wanting to speak even bothered their barnies coming in and taking up the time the Minister did not care about. Two-thirds of under 35s living with their parents in the back bedroom, the back garden, which is the Government's latest measure, or abroad, which is where most of them are, are absolutely disgusted at the election result and the fact that we are here again with a Government that simply does not care.

We have a school in our area, the Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 area, that has begged parents to provide spare rooms for teachers. It cannot employ teachers because of the housing crisis. I have had letters from school students in the area as well. We have one in three vacancies in the CDNT area because people cannot afford to live here, which is adding to the waiting lists here on autism awareness day. I bring this to the Minister's attention and ask him what action he has taken about this. In Fingal County Council, one of the biggest councils in the country, and the Blanchardstown area - Blanchardstown being the fifth biggest population area in the country - there is a massive land bank sitting idle that the council has said could provide 7,000 homes. Meanwhile, young people in their bedrooms or who are emigrating are sitting looking at this. There was an article in The Irish Times yesterday that stated Fingal County Council will seek €200 million from central government to try to develop this land bank. It is waiting for a fund to be set up so it can do this. What an absolute joke. The idea of a State company would have prioritised these huge land banks to provide affordable and social housing. I am not a fan of cost rental at all. It is a scam where the rent is so high it is not affordable. However, I refer to social and affordable housing. When I went back onto the council I pushed this and Fingal County Council has it as a long-term policy to develop it. This should be developed in the short term - in the lifetime of this Government. I am demanding that the Minister makes this a priority. He should be identifying land banks such as this, bringing in the local authorities and asking them what they need to get this started. That is the only way the housing crisis will be resolved.

The other scam is Government citing figures that the private sector is building. Journalists should not even be giving this any credence. They are not Government houses; they are private homes most of which are completely and utterly unaffordable. The only figures should be public housing. That should be the Minister's focus. Will he bring in Fingal County Council and ask it what it needs in this regard?

See this speech in context