Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 9 Nov 2022

Teachta, last night in debate with Sinn Fein's own O'Brien, your minister, Daryl O'Brien, claimed that we do not have a housing emergency. Incredible stuff, Teachta. So, I would like to share with you just some of the hundreds of people who have been in touch with us in the last 24 hours, victims of the housing emergency. Christopher tells us, I'm living in rental accommodation, I work full-time in the Defence Forces, my partner works part-time as we can't afford full-time childcare. We'll never be able to afford a house with prices this high, I'm at my wits' end. I genuinely have to hold back tears some days out of pure frustration at the state of things. Tracy tells us, I have to take an overdraft so I can pay the mortgage every month. I can't afford oil for heating, we're ripped off, I'm considering moving to New Zealand. Christine's story, I got six months' notice to leave after nine years' renting. I have four children, all under the age of 10. I've been on the housing list for years. Council tell me there are no houses and to start asking family. I'm so stressed I've had to go on medication. I work hard, I feel so let down, my heart is broken thinking that my children may not have a home. Aoife tells us, myself, my husband and three kids have lived with my mother for nearly five years now. We make too much money for social housing and way too little to own our own home. Our only hope would be affordable housing, we couldn't afford to rent. We feel like our lives have been on hold for so long now. We pay our taxes, pay our bills, we truly are the working poor and the hidden homeless. Killian says, I'm 28 years old, I live in a house share. I have a good job, but at this age I had hoped to own my own place. The house I'm in is overcrowded and it's damp. I hate going home from work, but I've no prospect of finding a better place. I am very much considering moving away for a better life. I know that there are people worse off than me, but my current situation is so depressing. Kate tells this. She says, we're back living with my parents along with two children. We're saving for a house, but prices are crazy. We both have good jobs, but we're not massive earners. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer in September, we considered moving out and renting again to give my parents space. 17 applications were sent and not one response. My eldest child is so insecure about not having our own house and it causes huge worry for him and for us. So there you have it, Taoiseach. And this, let it be said, is just a sample, a small sample of the real stories of your collective failure in housing. A father close to tears every day, a mother on medication to cope with the stress, young people feeling depressed, looking to emigrate, children racked with anxiety and fear, families living in a state of panic. There too, noc agandhau tithiakta i seo, ag ni haagen an thurim sin na fear scale na dini. The claim made that this isn't a housing emergency is so painfully out of touch with reality, because Taoiseach, if this isn't a disaster, then what is it? If this isn't a social catastrophe, then what is it? And if this isn't a housing emergency, as you claim, well then what is it? Well, first of all, I've been very consistent in this house in saying repeatedly that housing is the single most urgent and important social issue facing our society at this moment in time. And since this government has come into office, we have focused razor-like on the housing issue. And the evidence is there in terms of the new schemes that have been brought in, in terms of the construction and so on, I'll deal with that in a moment. But beyond a no doubt, being no doubt, sorry, this government sees housing as a key priority. And it was a pillar of the program for government. And a lot has been done over the last two and a half years, notwithstanding the lockdowns during COVID-19, of which there were two, which did have an impact. Coming out of that into the war in Ukraine, the inflationary cycle, which really increased building material costs, but we got to grips with that through the work of Minister McGrath in terms of public tendering and reforming those, giving confidence back to the sector to continue to invest in housing. And we will increase the supply of housing. We are increasing the supply of housing. And the plan is working. And we all accept the challenges for people out there. But the answer is to build more houses, to get supply up, along with a range of other policies. And I've said this repeatedly, I have seen no alternative to housing for all from anybody, from your party or from anybody, through the chair. I just haven't seen it in substance, in detail, in additional recommendations that would go over and above what Minister O'Brien has introduced. And those are the realities. Now, the latest home completion data from the CSO shows the country is well on track in exceeding the Housing for All plan for 2022. So we will go over 24,600. And that towards the end of this year. There was 28,000 homes built in the 12 months to September 2022. 21,000 house completions alone in the first nine months of this year. And, as I said, we hopefully will go over the target that we set ourselves. So the plan is working. But we need to build more houses. We need to build them more quickly. There were more than 16,000 first-time buyers in the past 12 months. I think that's the highest in a long, long time, since 2007. And represents 33% of all house purchases. And the sole house completions, commencements, permissions, home purchases, first-time buyers, mortgage drawdowns are all up to record levels. So we've had the highest housing delivery since 2008, the highest commencements on record, highest planning permissions since 2007, highest number of first-time buyers since 2007, highest number of home buyers since 2008. And we've also pushed very strongly ahead with the social housing. 18,390 new social homes have been added to the social housing stock under this government to Q2 of 2022. And that's including 11,201 new bills. We've brought 5,000 social homes back in to use under the avoids programme. And we're going to review, sorry, we're concluding the review, a fundamental overhaul of our planning code, because delivery of housing is key, and the delivery mechanism in terms of objections to housing projects and so on, and the slowness of delivery in many councils over so many years, Devaney Gardens, you name it, all too long, Oscar Traynor, just ridiculous objections and so forth. And so the Cree Coneha Fund, the 16 acts have been passed in this House. The Minister has brought 16 pieces of legislation on housing through this. We have the cap to rent increases in RPZs of more than 2% per annum. So it has been an extraordinary burst of activity over the last two and a half years under Minister O'Brien. That cannot be taken from it. It's real and it's substantial. Highest rents, highest house prices, highest levels of homelessness. That's the reality of your record. So here's Karen. Karen's in her early 20s. She says, with my boyfriend's six years, living with our parents in a box room. We just want to start our own life. We're just waiting for something to get better. It's so hard. Michael says, we're a working family with two children, renting for 21 years. We've been given notice of termination. We have no idea where we're going next. We can't afford to buy and we can't afford to rent. We're not even eligible for council housing since we're above the threshold. The future is just so unsure. Tisha, can I put it to you? Do you accept that this is a catastrophe? Do you accept that we are living through a housing emergency? Because if, like your ministry, you do not, that goes a very long way to explain your abject failure in meeting the housing needs of people. So can I ask you the straight question? I've given you just a sample of stories. This is a housing emergency, is it not? Deputy, I'm not going to play your populist game. Sinn Féin, essentially, is populist in its approach to issues. I've stated my position on housing. I use my definitions. And I said it's the greatest and most important urgent social problem facing this country. I've said that repeatedly. You're not going to put words in my mouth. But what I've been saying to you is this, we do not understate, through the chair, we do not understate the seriousness for many people out there. But I've listened to the deputy, through the chair, for the last four minutes. Plus, not one single solution came from the deputy. Not one single proposal came from the deputy in respect of this. And when we put forward a first home scheme, for example, opposed, again, by Sinn Féin, when the various schemes that the... And again, this is the same tactic all of the time, through the chair, that I didn't interrupt the deputy when the deputy spoke, but inevitably now that the tactic is to interrupt my good self or others when we're making comments. I have dismissed. There's more. That's more of the populism endeavouring. This is the classic populist trope that Deputy O'Brien has just articulated. It absolutely is. I'm trying to suggest that we are somehow not empathising with people who are in difficulty with housing. The only way to respond, Deputy, is to build houses. And when you look at Clonliffe, but the deputy opposite feels free to oppose... I just want to make the point. Sorry. No, but look, Deputy, you're a serial... The party opposite is a serial opposer to housing all the time. Clonliffe Road being one of them, you know. The last Cloncola is now standing for at least a minute. Would you please? I'm not going to continue. There are interruptions on both sides. If we could, with respect, move on and listen to the speaker. Thank you. Otherwise, I will not continue. I simply won't.