Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This week, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, proposed to Cabinet the most comprehensive affordable housing legislation in the history of the State. It proposes to change the direction of the State's role in the provision of housing in Ireland. This is an important development, not just for Government, but for society at large. We are coming out of a decade of under-provision of housing and the housing crisis has never been more profound. Radical change is needed. The Bill will do four things. It will cause the State to take the lead in the provision of housing by empowering local authorities to build affordable homes, starting at €160,000; it will create, for the first time in the history of this State, a local authority-led scheme of affordable cost rental; it will support first-time buyers, financially, to purchase homes; and it will double the number of social and affordable housing units provided in every new development under Part V. This is all very welcome. I urge every Member of the House to get behind the affordable housing Bill.

We all are aware that there are still significant deficits and issues in our dysfunctional housing system that need to be addressed. The commitment of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to ban co-living was welcome, as is his commitment to end the strategic housing development, SHD, process and to review the build-to-rent model. I acknowledge that the Minister has committed that from a planning perspective he will bring forward amendments to the planning legislation, but these amendments will only deal with planning issues as they arise on new planning applications. We need an immediate response from a financial perspective. It was a finance initiative that brought the vulture funds into this country. They are now spending €53 million per week here, which is not only undermining first-time buyers and our citizens in securing a home, it is undermining the State. This is an attack on our State and its commitment to provide housing for our citizens. I ask that the Minister for Finance come to this House to make a statement on what immediate action he is going to take to put financial penalties on these vulture funds so that they get out of the way of our first-time buyers and our State's commitment to provide homes for our citizens.