George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This motion brings together many of the key elements of what we believe can form the basis of a response to the greatest social crisis this country has faced since the foundation of the State. While we have come a long way since this State was founded, the housing crisis shrouds everything we do. It is a stain on all our political characters and on those of the many who have graced this Chamber before us. The figure that 15,000 of our citizens are in emergency accommodation is a source of shame created by this Government's refusal to break from the shackles of the private market, which is being allowed to lead the way when it comes to the provision of housing. When I say the provision of housing, I speak about the provision of what this Government and the private investors see as the provision of a commodity.

In addition to 15,000 people in emergency accommodation, we have those who are languishing on our local authority housing lists. We have families, single people and elderly people on our housings lists and they invariably remain on those lists for years before being allocated a new home. They spend years and years waiting and paying high rents, which will only get higher as the Government prepares to rid these families of any protections. Yet, those on our housing lists, despite the years of waiting and paying high rents, can be deemed to be extremely lucky. Those who are unlucky, those with little or no hope of security of tenure and those who are completely abandoned are the hard-working, low-income families excluded from our housing lists with absolutely no support or assistance because of the ridiculously low income thresholds which disqualify them from getting on the housing lists. For example, in my county of Wexford, if the total household income for two adults and two children exceeds €38,500, the family is either removed from the housing list or their application refused on the basis that household earnings are too high. Their only option is the private rental market, which means paying thousands in rent with no support and no hope of change as they also have no chance of securing a mortgage to remove the rental shackles. As if their household income was not low enough, these ridiculously low thresholds are condemning hard-working families to a life of stress and penury as they battle to keep up with the rent and keep a roof over their heads.

For those with incomes just under or near the threshold, there is no incentive to improve their lot for fear that a promotion in work or a bit of overtime will push them off the housing list. There simply has to be a better way to assess people's housing needs. For God's sake, will the Minister stop penalising hard-working families and forcing them into poverty? It is clear that the active State approach proposed by the Labour Party is the only mechanism that will deliver the volume of homes required to eradicate the numerous obstacles that are sustaining this crisis. The market will do what the market does, namely, serve and protect itself.

There is of course a place for the private sector in the provision of housing, but that place is not in the driving seat. I commend this motion to the House.

See this speech in context