Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today, I would like to raise the housing crisis and the serious inadequacy of the State's response to a crisis affecting every sector of society. I have no interest in scoring political points but, at this stage, it has to be accepted that the current strategies, whether it be Rebuilding Ireland or the array of other initiatives attempted by the Government, are just not working. The housing system is not experiencing a temporary blip or market correction, as stated by housing experts in The Irish Times last week. The system in freefall as a result of years of underinvestment, structural deficiencies in housing and planning policy, and a market-focused ideology that thinks the market can be relied on to provide the social good that is secure, safe and appropriate shelter for people in Ireland. It can no longer be denied that this approach, and this philosophy, has been a complete and abject failure.

There needs to be a fundamental transformation in how we tackle the crisis and housing policy in general. We cannot wait for the initiatives announced today to be implemented in two to three years' time when our citizens are being evicted from their homes right now. I strongly support the cross-party motion that will be debated in the Dáil later and I call on all Members to attend the Raise the Roof demonstration outside Leinster House at 1 p.m. People are assembling to express their hopelessness because they spend an inordinate amount on rents. Home ownership is increasingly out of reach for a vast number of people while increasing numbers of people, including children, are in emergency accommodation or sleeping on our streets.

We need to declare a national housing and homelessness emergency; dramatically increase spending on, and supply of, social, affordable and cost rental housing through a significant increase in capital expenditure; prioritise the delivery of public housing on public land; and work harder to bring vacant and derelict properties back into the supply as we proposed in the Civil Engagement Group in this House in February 2017. We should pass emergency legislation by the end of the month banning all evictions as an emergency interim measure where an eviction will directly lead to homelessness.