Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

In today’s edition of The Irish Timesthere are three reports on housing, all of which we would agree are pertinent. The first report, from the National Economic and Social Council, advises the Taoiseach that thousands of people will not be able to afford to buy their own homes. It is also reported that up to one third of people will need help with their housing needs. Effectively, the NESC report states many people will be condemned to spend the rest of their lives living in rented housing. I have asked for debates on the private rented sector on several occasions.
The second report in The Irish Timesstates that nine out of ten private rented dwellings in Dublin have failed to pass the minimum accommodation standards test. We are condemning people to live in a rented sector that is not fit for purpose. A debate on the rental sector is urgently required.
The third report anticipates this morning’s announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, of a multi-billion euro strategy to deliver social housing from 2015 to 2020. This is to be welcomed, given that those people who will not be able to afford to buy their own homes in the main will be relying on either rented housing or social housing provision.
Over the past decade and a half, social housing provision has failed miserably to meet people’s needs. We now have 90,000 households on the housing waiting lists. I am disappointed that the Minister did not attend the House before today’s announcement of the social housing strategy, as I would have liked the House to have an opportunity to have an input into it. All said, it would be good if the Minister attended the House as soon as possible to discuss the new social housing strategy. A key message of this policy is that the State would be the primary driver in housing provision over the next several years. That will be critical in breaking the boom-and-bust cycle we have seen in housing provision over the past decade. Will the Leader arrange to have the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, attend the House to discuss the social housing strategy as a matter of urgency?