Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an ngrúpa neamhspleách agus an Teachta Healy as ucht an rún seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála inniu. Molaim agus molann Páirtí an Lucht Oibre an rún seo. Tá a fhios ag chuile dhuine sa Teach seo go bhfuil an chruachás agus an ghéarchéim ag éirí níos measa, agus caithfidh an Rialtas rud éigin difriúil a dhéanamh.

I support the general thrust of the motion. I thank the Independent and Parties Technical Group for bringing it forward. In my short time as a TD, this is the fourth time that a motion in this vein has been tabled. I would love if this time we could see some genuine engagement from the Government other than the standard countermotion that states everything is going okay and we should just continue in the way we have been. Last Friday, we heard the figure of 15,378 people who were now homeless. This includes 500 people in my city of Limerick, among them 224 children. My local authority has more than 107 tenant in situ cases on hold. It tells me that, given the changes to the scheme, it will be lucky to be able to do 20 to 25 this year.

I wrote to the Minister last Friday setting out a number of practical measures that could and should be implemented in order to try to meaningfully address this. The first measure, which I implore the Government to take on board, is to pass the homeless families Bill that Jan O'Sullivan introduced in 2017. There was talk last year that this Bill was going to be included in the Government's miscellaneous housing Bill. It never made the Bill, but it is an important and practical measure. I have begun the steps of restoring this Bill to the Order Paper, which was supported by Fianna Fáil when it was in opposition. Under the current legislation governing local authorities, children have no official rights. The existing legislation is 35 years old. It reflects a different world, one where homelessness was something that only affected single, adult men. The Bill is a simple measure that would mean local authorities would have to assess the needs of children in homeless families as part of their decision-making. It would require local authorities to assess the suitability of alternative accommodation when a homeless family declines an offer of emergency accommodation because it is not suitable. It is designed to ensure that emergency accommodation meets the best interests of children, looking at issues such as access to schools, the need for child support workers, homework, play areas, appointments, etc. Some local authorities are quite good in this regard but others are not. We need consistency across the board. This Bill has already passed Committee Stage. I sincerely ask the Government to work with us on a cross-party basis to get it passed.

Another important provision in this motion that I clearly support is the need to enact the recommendations of the Kenny report in respect of law. The Kenny report has been lying on a shelf for 52 years now. The Labour Party introduced legislation in 2021 to enact its recommendations. We know land is at the centre of the housing crisis. Many of the problems we face at present could have been avoided had this report been implemented. The report's recommendation that local authorities be given the power to compulsorily purchase land at its existing use value plus a 25% gratuity is very clear. This would immediately end the ability of land hoarders and speculators to make enormous profits at the expense of first-time buyers.

I also agree on the need for a massive investment programme for social and affordable housing on public land. The Government is putting record investment into housing but never before has a Government invested so much and, by any objective, got such a poor return. The borrowing capacity of local authorities throughout the country is only €118 million. The Housing Commission report is very clear in its recommendation that 20% of our housing stock should be social and cost rental. Currently, approximately 9% of our housing stock is social and cost rental. I ask the Government to take on this recommendation.

I also urge the Minister to introduce a new social housing Act as a matter of urgency. I raised this as a parliamentary question and received a reply indicating that the Department was assessing the report of the Housing Commission. That was published almost 12 months ago. There is a clear need to specify and protect the social housing sector and remove any threat of privatisation.

I support the need to create a State housing infrastructure investment fund to unlock the €160 billion in Irish household savings to invest in social and affordable housing. This is something the Labour Party supports. It was in our manifesto. We propose to do this through the development of a housing solidarity bond operated via a State savings bond with an attractive interest rate to redirect private investment from vulture funds towards housing developments.

I urge the Government to take action on short-term lets before 2026. Under the previous Government, a Bill to introduce controls over the sector, including the establishment of a register, was proposed, but was delayed and revised and never made it to the floor of the Dáil. It now needs approval from this Government to proceed with full drafting. I ask for this to be hurried.

On rent controls, we know that rent pressure zones have been a failure by any objective measure. They are a blunt instrument and are frequently flouted because rents go up by more than the rate at which they are supposed to under the legislation. I urge the Government not to introduce a halfway house, whereby rents can just recalibrate between tenancies. While RPZs have been very ham-fisted, they are the only bit of protection renters have in the private rented market at the moment. My concern is that if we go by a model whereby rent can recalibrate between tenancies, it will increase the termination of tenancies in order to increase rental income.

We will end in a worse situation than we are in at present.

I raised the issue of the fall-off in apartment construction with the Minister in the Dáil two weeks ago. Dublin is the second most expensive city after Zurich. Belfast, which is approximately 140 km away and uses similar supply chains, is the second cheapest city. We need to examine how people are able to deliver apartments in Northern Ireland, which is on this island and only two hours up the road, at a much lower cost. Until we address the issue of apartment viability, we will not be able to be able to meaningfully address the housing crisis.

I know the Minister was in Limerick last Friday. I urge the Government to scale up the ambition of the Land Development Agency, particularly in terms of the Colbert Quarter, which is a brownfield site. We know there are difficulties in activating brownfield sites but this one has the capacity to deliver 2,800 homes. That site has category three long term development viability, which means nothing will happen with it in the short and medium terms. That site is key to solving the housing crisis in Limerick because so much land there is being transferred to the Land Development Agency. We need to see that land serviced and activated because of rents and house prices in Limerick. Rents there increased by 19.7% last year. The housing crisis is trending worse in Limerick than in the rest of the country because we are not building enough housing, be it social and affordable or private housing.

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