Aideen Hayden (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, to the House and I particularly welcome the discussion we are having on unfinished estates. I agree with my colleagues that ghost estates are the most visible scars in the country today of the excesses of the Celtic tiger. We cannot ignore the plight of those who are suffering in these estates and we cannot kick the can forward. The Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, has taken expedient action to deal with this matter, which is not of this Government's creation, I might add.

It is important to remember when we talk about ghost estates that not all of these developments are in the towns and villages of Ireland. While Cavan has 802 completed and vacant houses, Dublin city has 2,538, Dún Laoghaire has 1,477, Fingal has 1,517 and south Dublin has 1,286, and this figure does not include numbers near completion. All in all, the greater Dublin area has 9,131 houses complete and vacant or near completion. I also believe these numbers are understated. The advisory group's report only relates to estates where work was commenced after April 2007 with a vacancy rate of over 10%. This survey does not include estates with a vacancy rate below 10% or estates built in 2005 and 2006, where I have no doubt significant vacancies exist.

I am afraid I must disagree with other speakers. The harsh reality is that some of the unfinished housing in our ghost estates will have to be knocked down. They are in the wrong locations and it will take more resources than would be justifiable to keep them. There are, however, good reasons why taking ownership of the best stock in urban areas would be the smart thing to do. At present, aside from pressing housing need, we know the latest census reveals that Ireland's population is growing strongly owing to high numbers of births. We also know there has been little or no social housing or private construction in recent years, with none expected in the medium term. The Irish State also pays more than €500 million in rent supplement to people in the private rented sector, with a number of these units reported to be below minimum standards. In this regard, I welcome the Minister of State's recent initiative to give extra resources to local authorities to ensure that rented housing is fit for purpose. We also have 5,000 homeless individuals and families in this country at present.

In the face of all of this, it is difficult to see how we cannot insist on some social dividend from this debacle - a NAMA for the people by another name. The reality is that once the current overhang in the market, estimated by the Minister of State's Department to be around four years supply, is exhausted, we face a potential housing shortage in as little as five years time. It would be a disaster if the existing vacant units were sold off to some overseas carpetbagger in a bargain basement sale paid for by the Irish taxpayer. The least we can expect is some social dividend for the Irish people from this unmitigated disaster.

The Allsop auction, I point out to Senator Barrett, showed a 70% decline in Irish house prices relative to 2007 prices. Surely, this is the time to realise this asset for the Irish people. It was the foresight of previous Ministers in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s which saw an end to the slums. The same clear thinking today could be a significant help to future generations. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, to take whatever steps are necessary, including nationalisation, to save the housing stock of Ireland.

We now have houses built in locations where no one ever intended to live. They were built purely for the tax reliefs which could be gained with no interest paid to the towns and villages all over Ireland which are blighted by high-rise apartments and suburban sprawl. Villages are now surrounded by empty houses where previously these tax-led developments drove up local land prices and local people could not afford to compete against the spectre of speculation and what would become the cynical irony of our ghost estates.

While I understand that most of the developed world has suffered since the crash of 2008, we cannot and should not forget that it was the previous Government's policy that led to this particular problem. Rewarding speculation by cutting capital gains tax by half, making it more profitable to speculate in housing than to do a decent day's work plus unnecessary tax incentives driven by the location of votes and not by housing need have contributed to where we are today.

I welcome the recommendations of the report that local authorities should compel those responsible for this problem to shoulder the burden. While we will support the Minister of State in every way where this issue is concerned, we must think outside the box and consider utilising suitable vacant houses for social housing. The Department will also need to provide local authorities with the powers and finances to take on developers who are unwilling to co-operate and are leaving in the lurch householders who have invested significant amounts in their family homes. This last is unacceptable and we will give the Minister of State our full support in taking on the challenge.

The other issue raised was that of the tax incentive schemes, about which I have reservations. One would assume that so many vacant houses were built because of tax incentives, but it has been shown that only 10% of vacant properties were supported under such schemes. That 90% were not supported indicates that the issue is much wider than assumed. Many counties did not receive the benefit of a tax incentive scheme.

I thank the Acting Chairman for giving me time.