Results 14,121-14,140 of 51,063 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have been a long-standing advocate for social housing, along with the Deputy, even when I was in opposition. We are now looking at an unprecedented social housing programme. It is going to take time to build but it is happening right now.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There were 31,000 starts last year. I accept and am glad the Deputy acknowledged the need for private sector investment. It does need to be constrained. We have already brought in planning constraints on funds in terms of housing estates and being able to bulk buy. They cannot do so. From a taxation perspective and a planning position, that has happened. In terms of apartment building,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. This report from the police ombudsman is a very significant one. It is a deeply disturbing report and, as the Deputy stated, the second such report in a matter of weeks. Examining those attacks, in particular that in south Belfast in Sean Graham bookmakers, resulting in many murders and one attempted murder, it has found very strong...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is no doubt in my mind that Sinn Féin's policies would restrict rental supply in the next number of years-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and would actually cause rents to go up. The Deputy knows that. She mentioned houses. She knows well we have already taken steps, both legislative and through taxation, that do not allow for bulk buying of houses and for homes in housing estates.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It does not, and the Deputy knows it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: An Bord Pleanála has followed up in terms of recent decisions in relation to that. The Mullen Park project in Maynooth did not proceed. We are talking here about the other report that was referenced this morning in terms of apartments and so on. That is the context. There cannot be bulk buying of houses and homes and so on in this State.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I know that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I do understand it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I think the fundamental point is one of supply. Sinn Féin has consistently ignored it, because it is playing the political sloganeering game. It is into exploiting the issue for sake of electoral gain. I know that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The real issue in supply is that at different times and different stages, the Sinn Féin spokesman and others will advocate for private developments and say they want them. What we are saying in Housing for All is that 33,000 houses are required. Social housing of up to 10,000 units will be required and we are providing funding for it. It is likewise, with affordable housing. There...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We need supply.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: What we do not need are serial objections, as the Deputy's party have made, to developments in Tallaght, Donabate and right across.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Sinn Féin has objected to the building of around 6,000 houses.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It has objected to them and voted against them being built. That, to me, is hypocrisy-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----when put in contrast with the huge crisis that we have in terms of housing supply.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Again, the issue is a very serious one. Rents are too high for people. There are not enough houses out there. We can see from the from the Daft report there are not enough apartments to rent. There is not enough housing out there to buy. The whole purpose of the Government policy over the past 12 months and since we came into office has been to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the question and the issue. The Government came into office more than a year and a half ago, and I have made it clear that housing is the key social issue facing our country and society. Ireland needs, on average, 33,000 homes constructed per annum right out until 2030. These homes are needed to satisfy demand for housing across all four types of tenure:...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The answer is more supply. We need more supply and to build more houses. A total of 20,000 were completed last year, when the Covid lockdown hit us, and we hope to reach a figure of 25,000 in 2022. However, the target in Housing for All is to get to 33,000 houses every year. That is what we need to get to. We need it across all types of housing: private housing, public housing to an...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There has been a detailed dive in the policy underpinning Housing for All regarding the various tenure types. We now need to get on with it and allow the houses to be built. That is a sincere point I am making. If we all agree this is a crisis, we are not going to solve it with 20,000 or 25,000 units per year; we need 33,000, at a minimum, per year.