Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The execution of any housing policy by this Government is to be welcomed and everyone should give it a chance. Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, was first announced over a year ago and it is fair to say the Government has been lukewarm in supporting it and lacked any sense of immediate purpose. We applaud the purpose of the Bill, which is to lower the cost of funds for building by investing €750 million from ISIF in the construction sector. Currently, banks will lend only between 60% and 65% of the capital required at an interest rate of between 4% and 7%. The developer must then borrow the rest from an international fund, often at rates of more than 10%. When this is added up it makes any project totally unviable.

Given the Government's tight-fisted track record, we have to question whether the HBFI will spend what has been promised. The precursor of the fund, Activate Capital, has a total of €500 million in State funding, yet it has contributed to the construction of only approximately 3,600 homes since January 2016. We have every right to expect HBFI to be successful and it must not become a flop similar to Activate Capital.

Homelessness has been allowed to reach unprecedented levels while the number of homes being built is tens of thousands behind what it should and needs to be. Fianna Fáil pushed a pro-social and affordable housing agenda throughout the budget process. The Government has had six separate housing plans and more than a dozen launches. We have yet to see any real substantial change for the 120,000 people on social housing waiting lists and the large cohort of people on average incomes who are unable to buy a home and see more and more of their income going towards servicing rent costs.

While the Bill is a good first step and I welcome it and applaud everyone involved in it, the Government needs to be bolder in its approach. Tinkering around the edge of this issue will not solve the problem. Fianna Fáil is committed to increasing the supply of homes by not only reducing the cost of finance but also by reducing development levies, introducing a new special saving incentive account, SSIA, scheme to help people save for their deposit and strengthening rental protections. There is no silver bullet for this problem to which there are many facets.

I welcome the Bill and its attempts to provide much-needed revenue for developers to get back to building houses. However, more is required and I would welcome the Government taking more urgent action to do what is needed. I look forward to more substantial progress on this issue as soon as possible.