Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned that domestic policy decisions, the housing crisis and the planning system are leading to an uncompetitive environment in the State for the retention of foreign direct investment and damaging efforts to attract new investment. Deputy Niall Collins raised these concerns in the Dáil and has asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation to address them at the Joint Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation. She has not yet agreed to appear before the committee to have that discussion.

The recently published report by American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Growing Great Teams in Ireland: The Role of the Residential Rental Sector, clearly illustrates the severity of the housing shortage and how it could lead to Ireland being uncompetitive in the future which could, in turn, be a deterrent to foreign direct investment. The report states more than 30,000 new one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental properties are needed in Dublin by 2022 to meet the housing demand arising from the new jobs created by foreign direct investment. The Tánaiste and IDA Ireland must outline the Government's response to this finding from a jobs growth perspective. The Government can no longer sit on the sidelines and hope the housing crisis will end and house constructions will commence. All successful projects work from the bottom up. It is easy to see that the Government's refusal to launch an organised and co-ordinated social and affordable house building programme is endangering further growth and the creation of high-end jobs in Ireland.

The housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme is not a housing policy, but it is creating division in the country by pitting marginalised and working class families against each other in the competition for housing. If it is to take the report by American Chamber of Commerce Ireland seriously, the Government can no longer simply point to its projected figures and state everything will work out and that the targets will be achieved by 2022. We have had that talk from two Ministers in the past five years but nothing has actually been done. We must have a co-ordinated plan based on a bottom-up approach. We have totally neglected social housing. The Taoiseach delivered a speech at a party conference in Cavan a few days ago which was full of bravado but which included no mention of social housing and no indication of an organised programme of house building. If this matter is not addressed in a serious way, we will have chaotic problems. Rents in Dublin are 20% higher than they were at their peak in 2008. On average, a semi-detached house costs €3,000 per month to rent in Dublin 1. That is an horrific cost in an area in which many of the people who come to Ireland to work in higher end jobs are located and in which they wish to live. We have had a lot of talk about solutions but zero substance when it comes to action. Will the Minister of State indicate whether there is a definite plan in place to commence a house building programme?