Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

I welcome this opportunity, particularly as it is the first time I have taken part in a housing debate in the new Dáil with the Minister present. It is important that we get our points across to him. I was also outside at the protest. I am looking forward to a huge turnout on 5 July for the Community Action Tenants Union protest, particularly because young people are in despair. They are either sleeping in cars in order to stay in college because they cannot get accommodation or they are dropping out of college. Afterwards, they are not able to live independent lives. Student teachers and nurses are heading straight to Australia. The knock-on impact of this throughout society is incredible. One place where it is having such an impact is on the waiting lists relating to children's disability network teams. One in three vacancies for these teams cannot be filled. One thing I will never forgive the Government for is the oxygen it is giving to the far right by refusing to tackle the housing crisis. In the diverse communities I represent, many people are living in fear because of the hate and division being stoked up in places where minorities are being targeted.

I want to focus on solutions because the Government says we do not have them. Making the private rental sector more attractive to investment funds is not the solution. Taking away indefinite tenancies, opening up the prospect of instability after six years, allowing rents relating to new-build apartments to be put up beyond 2% and at the rate of inflation and voluntary exit potentially leading to rent hikes will be a disaster, especially for students. The Minister mentioned solutions. I dug out a report from nine years ago that I wrote after spending a hell of a lot of hours on a special housing committee set up by the Dáil. It was an all-party committee. Hundreds of hours were spent on that committee, and none of the recommendations it put forward was adopted.

Without being boastful, I would say that I have been responsible more houses to be built than the Minister. For example, Church Fields in Mulhuddart, which is being cited by the Minister and everyone as being the greatest thing since sliced bread, was put forward by me and Solidarity councillors in 2017. We got an architect to write a plan. We used a drone to make a video. We brought it to Fingal County Council and said there was a landbank it could develop. We told the council it had the money and outlined how it could work financially, with 50% social housing and 50% affordable housing. That scheme is now Church Fields. Development is under way. Hundreds of people will get homes as a result. It is not exactly the model I wanted, but it is much better than leaving the site vacant as had been the case. We have the same prospect now with another landbank and I want the Minister to take this on board. Fingal County Council has a huge strategic landbank at Scribblestown in Dunsink at which it has reported 7,000 homes could be built. It has asked for €200 million from the Government to help to get started. That must not be a long-term project. It should be a short-term project. There should be houses starting on that in five years. It is near a rail line. It has major potential. It has natural wildlife parklands that could be developed and it could provide homes for thousands of workers and young people.

The Minister asks where the money is. The Government has a budget surplus of €10 billion. It has the Apple money of €14 billion. I urge the Minister to please not use money as an excuse. There is ample money to build public housing, which is the only way to provide it cheaply and in the supply that is needed.

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