Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the change to the Order of Business that will allow us to discuss the urgent issue of Palestine later this evening. That is welcome.

There were two extraordinary articles yesterday on what is happening to our property and housing markets. The Business Post revelations that more than €225 million of taxpayers' money has gone into supporting vulture funds buying up houses and apartments before they go on the open market is quite extraordinary. It puts the lie to the suggestion, which came from some Government circles, that what happened with the estate in Maynooth was a once-off. It clearly was not. There are three estates and €225 million of Government funding involved. Not only is Government tax and planning policy denying people affordable homes, it is using taxpayers' money to fund developments which will not be sold on the open market. This is extraordinary and outrageous and clearly has been Government policy for some time. The Government was warned in 2019 that cuckoo funds were not likely to develop additional supply in the marketplace. Two years after that, we see what is still going on. It is outrageous.

The second article is even more concerning, particularly from a Limerick perspective. A British property company, chaired by a sitting Deputy, which opposed council plans for social housing on the outskirts of Limerick City in 2018, is a venture partner and building 37 houses nearby - just across the road. That is extraordinary, is it not? The Formation Group seems to have extraordinary success in terms of building homes and winning contracts. I will not get an opportunity to speak on the housing issue, unfortunately, because I have to do work for the Council of Europe. It is crucial this Affordable Housing Bill addresses the outrageous gearing of the marketplace against ordinary people and in favour of major investors. This is a scandal which has gone on for far too long. We need urgent action in respect of this matter.