Seanad debates

Friday, 28 May 2021

Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage

 

9:30 am

Photo of Ollie CroweOllie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is my first opportunity to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, back to the Chamber and thank him for his work on the Moorhead report. Councillors throughout the country who, although well entitled to what they got, are thankful for that.

I will move on to the issue which is an urgent one throughout the country and especially in the heart of Galway city, where I am from. I know the Minister of State is familiar with the area. I cannot stress how much affordable housing is needed. I am from a working class area and our party, Fianna Fáil, has a long track record of building and delivering housing and homes when in government. It is vital. It is no secret we will live or die by this. That is the reality.

Time is moving on and urgency is required. One does not need to be a genius to state any of that. Those are the facts. It is vital for our young people. When I say young, I am talking about people in their mid-20s up to their 40s who are looking for homes and are struggling with heavy rent. It is critical. I have confidence in the Minister of State and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, but trying to get property in Galway is frightening, as it is in all cities and throughout the country.

I do not want to take up too much time, but I will reference a scheme and ask that Senator Fitzpatrick's amendment, which I support and agree with, be accepted. I come from a local authority background and spent 11 years on a local authority in Galway city. The scheme I want to reference is in Boherboy in Cork city. There are 50 homes there. We need to ramp this up and make sure every local authority is taking action.

Sometimes I get frustrated by the local authorities because no matter how much one does, there seems to be a communications issue with the executive at times. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to once again send a message to city and county council managers throughout the country that we need to ramp it up and get a monthly update. Significant social housing is being built in Galway city and especially in Knocknacarra and the east side, but the affordable is where I am at.

I refer to Senator Fitzpatrick's amendment again. What I want to understand in this process is in terms of square footage of the houses. A start-up home for a couple without children in Galway could be 900 sq. ft. I am asking that there would be a price associated with that and I look forward to Minister of State's response on it. One could have three different sizes. They should be limited to the size and there should be a reference to that point.In one way, I understand that there must be a threshold. That figure was worrying for people in Galway. I hope and pray that this will not be the cost of housing. I know it will not be but when one is looking at a figure of €450,000, people get scared before they even start. Can I get a response regarding square footage and size? It could be all relative. This is necessary. From talking to people, I know that would make it affordable and more manageable.

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