Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, brought the affordable housing Bill to Cabinet. There are two good proposals in it - an affordable cost rental scheme led by approved housing bodies and a council-run affordable purchase scheme. These two proposals will only be effective if the Government sets ambitious targets and meets those targets with real cash. However, we have seen little cash and ambition from the Minister so far. In budget 2021, just €35 million was allocated for a cost rental scheme and €50 million for the council-run affordable purchase scheme. That will deliver just 530 homes this year.

In 2019, Sinn Féin proposed increasing to 25% the percentage of a private development that would be set aside for social and affordable units, so it is welcome that a slightly lower proposal of 20% is included in this Bill. The Government should adopt more Sinn Féin policies, particularly in housing. The truth is that the Government does not have the political will to help renters, first-time buyers and people in mortgage distress or to end homelessness. This has been nowhere more obvious than in the Government's shared equity scheme. According to the London School of Economics, upon which the Minister's proposal is based, this kind of scheme has increased house prices in London by 6%. The scheme has a series of price caps, including €500,000 for a Dublin city apartment and €450,000 for a house in Dublin city. I do not have to tell Members that this is not affordable. This has no place in housing policy, let alone in an affordable housing Bill. When does the Leader expect this Bill to come to the House? I reiterate that we need to ban rent increases, put an amount equivalent to one month's rent back in the pockets of people who are renting and drive supply with a €900 million investment to deliver 4,000 affordable rental homes a year.

Finally, t is vital Ireland uses its position on the UN Security Council to call for an immediate end to the armed assault on the Palestinian people. The Minister for Foreign Affairs cannot equivocate any longer. The Government must recognise the state of Palestine as the Dáil has done. We must condemn Israel at the Security Council. We need actions, not endless gestures.