Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

In my three minutes I am going to repeat what I have said since the day I came in here. This crisis has been caused by Government policy. We have just come in from the Raise the Roof protest. There is no doubt each policy from each Government has intensified the crisis as it has failed to recognise - deliberately so - that housing is a basic human right. Each Government has dealt with it like an asset and allowed the market to provide. When it did not provide, governments brought in every possible scheme to support the market, the HAP scheme being absolutely the worst, which became the only game in town. It is really important.

Today I heard an interview with a Mr. O'Driscoll on the new infrastructure taskforce and I was singularly unimpressed with his narrative. I state that publicly. I agree with him we have failed to provide investment in infrastructure but no questions were asked as to how that happened. How did it happen that a city like Galway has no provision for a wastewater treatment plant on its east side, meaning no development can take place? How has it happened there is no wastewater treatment plant to the west, in Conamara? There were no questions asked. We look at planning and we put all the problems down to objectors, which is a dangerous and disingenuous narrative. It is absolutely appalling that arguments by somebody in that position reduces it to “objectors” when the real problem is at any given time there are 500 planning vacancies. I put my hands up and say "tell me if I am wrong." However, how one runs a system like that with so many vacancies is pertinent. We blame the courts for judicial reviews when the only avenue left to many people is to go that route. The Minister knows that very well and the misquoting and misusing of figures.

We also absolutely made local authorities non-existent in relation to the provision of housing. We stopped building housing in Galway in 2009. We never built a single other house until about 2020. An integral part of the solution is public housing on public land. That is one part of the solution. The Government set up various entities and agencies, including the Land Development Agency and we are now going to extend its power. Its remit should be totally public housing on public land which it is not doing. It is doing a deal in Galway on the docks on public land for premium housing. At the risk of boring the Minister, we have a jigsaw of pieces - I am not sure how many pieces, though it might be an exaggeration to say 500 - with no overall vision except to bow down to the market and that the market will provide and when it does not, to add a new piece and a new piece to make sure we keep the prices up. It is an obscenity to talk about affordable housing at the price it is.

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