Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)

The devastating consequences of the housing crisis have seeped into almost every aspect of our lives and are wreaking havoc in almost all aspects of our economy and society. No community has escaped its clutches and barely a family has not felt the brunt of its force. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have proved time and again that they are incapable of turning things around. In fact, the only thing they seem capable of is making things worse.

In 2012, small apartments were available to buy in Tralee town centre for €45,000. It was contrary to Government policy at the time to buy such apartments. The town councils were abolished shortly thereafter, which made things worse. We have still not recovered. The population of the whole of the county is now concentrated in the major towns, which has serious consequences that I will talk about shortly.

The facts are stark. No matter where you turn, the situation is not improving and is, in fact, deteriorating. Housing supply is plummeting and prices have jumped by 36% in the past four years. In some areas, the increase has been as high as 50%. In Kerry, a house that cost €200,000 in 2021 will now set you back approximately €280,000. The average wage of constituents has not increased. In fact, thanks to the Government's budget package last week, real wages will be going down. How are ordinary people supposed to afford to buy a house when average house prices are now eight times higher, on average, than earnings? It is no wonder that so many people feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It is difficult to sit in a constituency office when people are coming, time and again, in desperate situations, seeking housing, and you have to tell them that you will make the representation without any real prospect of being able to deliver a house or give them hope of obtaining a house unless they spend a decade on the approved social housing list.

This do-nothing Government is out of touch. Otherwise, it could not justify the skyrocketing rents the length and breadth of the county. Rents are up 60% in Kerry. Time after time, we hear of landlords who have doubled the rent or put it up by 60% of 80%. Rents have increased from €1,000 per month to €1,500 per month. People are being made homeless. Kerry urgently needs proper homeless services in places other than Tralee and Killarney. People also become homeless in Dingle, Kenmare and Cahersiveen. People who have had a relationship break-up and do not have a house to go to are all being sent an hour up or down the road to the major towns in the county. It is unfair on those people that there is no provision. Last week, I spoke to someone who works in Kerry County Council. In the whole of west Kerry, not one three-bedroom house has become available to those waiting on the social housing last in the past two years. We need urgent measures now to address the root causes of the crisis in housing and homelessness.

One property was delivered through the tenant in situ scheme last year. Four other people were waiting. They were all extremely vulnerable people for whom specific provision had been made to address their needs. The sale of each of those houses collapsed and did not go through.

I do not see the urgency coming from the Government. What I outlined in respect of social housing in west Kerry is totally unacceptable. It takes Kerry County Council longer to turn around social housing than anywhere else in the country. Funding, it says, is not there. The Taoiseach at one stage called that a cop-out on the part of Kerry County Council, but that is not the case when the leadership is not coming from the top and the waiting list is as long as ten years. It is outrageous that properties are spending 14 months on the list.

See this speech in context