Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am delighted to be here for these statements. We are all well aware of the housing issue. It is the single biggest issue and everybody knows that. I believe the Government thinks there is a panacea with Airbnbs but it is not. We had that before in this city where the Government closed down 1,000 bedsits - 1,000 units - and made that many people homeless with no place to go. I think the Government has it wrong about Airbnbs. The vast majority of Airbnbs I know of in Tipperary are solely used for holidays and are bringing people into the area who spend money in the area as well.

Social housing purchases, including the tenant in situ scheme, has been reduced significantly this year. While I acknowledge the importance of focusing on local authority-led social housing builds and the need for properties to go onto the private market, it is a very difficult. The same people who have been in long-term rental accommodation through HAP and RAS schemes are losing their places and they are devastated.

I welcome the appointment of Mr. Jonathan Cooney as the new director of services for housing in Tipperary County Council. I have called him a visionary and for public representatives and for people who are looking for houses, he is a very good man to deal with. The same fund is expected to do everything. We only have €5 million in the budget and we are trying to do everything with that - CAS purchases, social housing acquisitions and the disabled person's grant - and it is simply not enough.

We are blue in the face talking about Uisce Éireann. We have to do something about Uisce Éireann. It is too slow dealing with applications. Recently I saw a planning application for 26 houses that would have taken 29 weeks to build. Mr. Flannery, the contractor, is great and was ready to build but could not get the connection. That is simply not good enough and we must deal with that. Uisce Éireann should be brought back to the county councils to deal with things in tandem and have everything ready to go when the houses are completed.

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