Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann recognises, in the light of the fact that:

—in the last seven years house prices have trebled from the average price of a new house at €97,000 in 1997 to over €300,000 in 2004;

—according to local authority housing strategies, almost half of all new families cannot afford to buy a house;

—numbers on council housing lists have doubled from 26,000 in 1996 to over 60,000 now;

—there are twice as many homeless as there was in 1997;

—in relation to the 10,000 affordable houses agreed by the Government after the 2002 election that not one sod has been turned;

—the report of the Commission on the Private Rented Sector has not been implemented four years after publication; and

—the first-time buyers grant has been abolished and no measures put in place to address the disadvantaged position of first-time buyers in the housing market

the Government has failed dismally in its housing policy and should resign from office.

I move this motion on behalf of my Labour Party colleagues and fellow Senators. When I submitted this motion, in the final sentence I proposed that the Government be evicted from office. That wording has been changed, which is a pity. I have heard worse language used in the House.

The Government's housing slogan could be, "A lot said; nothing done". Shortly before the local elections of 1999 the Government made an announcement regarding affordable housing. This caused much excitement and I received many inquiries on the matter. I got the relevant documentation from the Department and forwarded it to people who were interested. We awaited this great new initiative. In fact, no action followed the announcement until last year when three affordable housing units were built in Lucan. This was the first delivery of affordable housing in Lucan under the 1999 initiative. I accept that the local authority shares responsibility for the provision of affordable housing but the local authority in my area is controlled by Fianna Fáil, as are councils in many areas, so that party bears a dual responsibility. Affordable housing is being provided in Lucan this year but the provision is limited. Only 33 houses are being built in Lucan at present and they are taking a long time to build.

Sustaining Progress promised 10,000 affordable housing units but nothing has come on stream in that regard. It was a mere promise. Promises of this sort are simply spin, designed to get the public and the media excited for a short while, but very little comes into effect.

In Dublin, 50% of new families can no longer afford to buy their own house. The Government has made provision for 20% of all new housing development to consist of affordable or social housing. Local authorities have imposed lesser requirements and the Government has even allowed developers to buy their way out of these reduced planning conditions.

Within the lifetime of the last Government, the Minister for Finance did a U-turn with regard to the capital gains tax provision which forced developers to build on re-zoned land. Last year, the Government abolished the first-time buyer's grant. While the amount of the grant was small it gave first-time buyers some advantage over other players in the property market. Unlike buyers who are moving from a previous home, first-time buyers have no equity in a house which they can use in buying a house. Investors can often use tax breaks and incentives to write-off the full price of a house. The abolition of the first-time buyer's grant showed where the Government's loyalties lie, despite its protestations to the contrary.

The All-Party Committee on the Constitution, of which I am a member, recently produced a report on property rights. The Taoiseach made a major media announcement of his referral of the question of property rights to the committee. The report has been published but I see no sign of Government action on it. Will this report join so many others on a shelf somewhere?

This motion points to the Government's failures. A similar motion tabled by my Labour Party colleagues in the Dáil this evening sets out what the Government needs to do in this regard. I ask the Minister and Government to make a radical intervention in the housing market instead of making announcements and holding press conferences.

Members will be aware from the All-Party Committee on the Constitution report that there is no impediment, legal or otherwise, to the introduction of legislation to cap the price of building land. Other measures can also be taken in that regard. A great deal of work went into that report. It includes inputs from across the political divide and contains a substantial section on the dynamics of the property market and the legal basis for taking action on the housing crisis in terms of the price of land. There is no reason the Government cannot come forward with proposals to introduce such a measure.

The report also mentions the capping of the price of land. The Taoiseach recently referred to a clause in the report which states the cost of housing is not primarily influenced by the price of land. It is important the Taoiseach does not misunderstand what the word "primarily" means in that context. The All-Party Committee on the Constitution received advice from many experts. The price of a house may affect the price of land but the price of land then determines the price of housing and other land. That is the reason the capping of the price of land is an important measure. It would put in place a check to prevent developers making enormous profits from ever increasing land prices.

Many other measures could be put in place. The Labour Party manifesto points out that the number of council houses built in the lifetime of this Government is paltry compared with the number built by Labour or previous Fianna Fáil Governments when in office. South Dublin County Council built approximately 600 council houses in the past five years. There is an ever increasing number of people on that council's housing list.