Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

I have just come in from the protest outside the gates of the House. There is a huge crowd of people outside protesting about the Government's failed policies. We have nurses, students, young people, renters and representatives from all the political parties. They have one really clear message: it is that the Government's housing policies are failing. Things are getting worse and not better, yet the Government is doubling down.

What we hear constantly from the Government is that we have turned a corner. Honestly, it has turned so many corners now, it is going round in circles. The Minister has fundamentally got the new rent rules wrong. Students, who are going to change tendencies every year, are going to have their rents reset to market levels. Every single year, students are going to face record high rents. There will be increases year after year. A student attending college for four years in Cork who moves their tenancy every year will get a huge jump in their rent. I do not think the Minister has thought this through. I do not think he has thought through that students, young people and people who move for work will get their rent reset every single year.

The Minister needs to rebrand his affordable housing schemes because they are not affordable. There are affordable houses in Cork city costing €400,000. Does the Minister genuinely believe that a home costing €400,000 is an affordable home? I would love an answer to the question of what he actually considers to be affordable for someone in this country, because in my view €400,000 is not an affordable home. It is an expensive home, not one that people can afford.

When it comes to social housing, we have not seen the increases we need. In 2023, there was an increase of only 180 social homes in Cork city. Meanwhile, over 3,500 wait on the waiting list. As a result, we have people waiting for more than ten years to access social housing in Cork city. It is not good enough and it needs to change.

At the same time, we have 350 vacant council houses - houses that are boarded up - where the council spent almost €1 million in five years boarding up vacant council houses, while we have hundreds of people in our city who are homeless.

I do not think the Minister is considering the consequences of his policies and the decisions he is making that are driving up rents, house prices and homelessness. It is a social catastrophe. I ask the Minister to stop, to think, to reconsider and to change track. What we need is a new direction and a new approach in housing policy.

I urge people in Cork city and across Munster to come and gather with us in Cork city this Saturday at 2 p.m. for the Raise the Roof rally and to send a signal and a message to the Government that its housing policies have utterly failed and they need to change.

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