Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

The number one issue facing many workers is housing, and the Government has repeatedly claimed both that it will both deliver new social homes and that the planning system is to blame for the lack of delivery so far. This month, however, funding for the delivery of almost 500 social homes has gone up in smoke. Almost 3,500 planned social homes, many with full planning permission, are in jeopardy now facing cost reviews. That is almost a third of the annual social housing delivery target. These public-private partnership deals have collapsed for one reason: private profit. The Government has claimed that the costs are now too high, but we knew they would be. They explicity include provision for the developers to make a profit from the arrangement. Every cent of profit is a cost in excess of what is actually necessary to deliver housing. In light of the collapse of PPP bundle 3 and the reviews of bundles 4 to 7, will the Taoiseach finally abandon the failed policy of public-private partnership and fund councils to deliver bundle 3 as soon as possible?

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