Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Tá an oiread sin gnéithe den cheist tithíochta seo nach féidir liom iad ar fad a chlúdach san am atá agam. Déanfaidh mé déileáil le gné amháin ach cosúil le mo chomhghleacaí tá mé ag iarraidh ar dhaoine teacht le chéile anseo Dé Máirt seo chugainn ar a 6 a chlog mar chuid den Raise the Roof campaign.

Tens of thousands of young couples are locked out of renting, never owning their own homes. These couples have okay wages but because of Government policies and the wholesale subsidisation of private landlordism by successive governments, these couples face a dilemma - live apart in their parents' homes with their parents and siblings or, as in far too many cases, move out of their local areas or emigrate. Young people are competing against vulture funds, AHBs, landlords, scrupulous or unscrupulous, and councils, which are buying up new and second-hand homes. Many even consider giving up work on the presumption they may get a home quicker on the council list. Many couples are earning too much for the affordable homes threshold and too little for a mortgage for even a modest house, even after qualifying for the State's inflationary subsidies, such are the obscene prices being sought for homes. It is €450,000 for a two-bed 1930s Dublin Corporation home with a BER of E or less and in need of modernisation.

That is madness and unsustainable. Another €100,000 will be required to modernise those homes. There is also a need to address prices from estate agents. Every home I know of in Dublin 10 and 12 is going for 15% to 20% over the advertised price for the last five years or so and the agents know this is happening. They also know the amount couples have and can go up to because people must produce their mortgage approval in advance of any bidding as part of the documentation. Agents then play those couples off against each other. The advertised prices should be the price that is got so people cannot play around. It is absolutely obscene what is happening.

Tá ceisteanna eile maidir leis an Ghaeltacht, maidir leo siúd atá gan dídean, maidir leo siúd atá ina gcónaí ar na sráideanna agus maidir le tithe sóisialta. Is gá dúinn díriú isteach ar na ceisteanna seo. Tá géarchéim ann. Impím ar dhaoine brú a chur ar an Rialtas seo ionas go n-admhódh sé go bhfuil géarchéim ann agus gá le gníomh láithreach chun an fhadhb a leigheas, seachas an tslí a bhfuil sé á déanamh atá ag cur leis an bhfadhb seo in ionad a fhadhb a leigheas.

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