Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Jan 2024

Vol. 1048 No. 6

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Pearse Doherty

I welcome the good news overnight of the DUP's decision to end its boycott of the institutions. I hope we will now see the executive, the assembly and the North-South institutions up and running before long. It is long overdue, as I am sure all of us in this House can agree.

Tá tithe de dhíth ag daoine ar phraghas réasúnta a cheannach ná a chíosú. Mar sin féin, níl siad ar fáil agus tá an chuma ar an scéal anois go bhfuil an Rialtas don cheathrú bliain i ndiaidh a chéile tar éis teip iomlán a dhéanamh ar na spriocanna a bhí leagtha síos acu ó thaobh praghsanna réasúnta de ar thithe a thógáil. Cén fáth é sin?

As the Taoiseach well knows, a generation of workers, families and young people continue to struggle to put an affordable and secure roof over their heads. Under his Government, the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse, with sky-high house prices, rip-off rents and a severe shortage of housing stock, as again highlighted in research published yesterday by Sherry FitzGerald auctioneers. People who work hard and have done all the right things to create a good future for themselves and their families are crying out for affordable homes to rent or buy. We have come to the bonkers situation where a couple must now earn €127,000 a year to be able to afford a new, average house in the city of Dublin. It is not just a problem in this city. In Galway, people must earn €115,000 a year, while in Cork, the figure is €104,000 a year. This is off-the-wall stuff. It is totally demoralising for people right across the State. Many people who rightly have the aspiration of homeownership are instead forced to remain trapped in the private rental market, where they fork out huge amounts on rent every single month.

These workers, families and young people need real solutions. The best solution is for the Government to drive with ambition the delivery of affordable homes to rent and to buy at a level the scale of the crisis demands. However, last week, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, published the so-called housing progress report. It has 44 glossy pages, lots of words and lots of numbers but very little information on the delivery of the homes for which the Government is directly responsible. Incredibly, the Minister failed to provide a progress update on the 3,550 genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy that the Government promised to deliver through local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs, last year. There is not one word in the report about it. We have complete and utter silence.

The Taoiseach can see why this rings alarm bells. Since the Government came to office, it has missed its affordable housing targets not just in one year but every single year. For four years in a row, the targets have been missed, and the targets were far too low for starters. The lack of pace, ambition and urgency to deliver affordable houses has serious consequences for people. Thousands of adults in their 30s and 40s who want to strike out on their own are living at home with their parents. As we know, young people are leaving in their droves for the chance of a better life and flocking to places like Australia.

The housing affordability crisis is a real barrier for employers hiring workers, schools hiring teachers and hospitals hiring nurses and doctors. The Government and the housing Minister need to come clean with the people. The Minister is hiding behind the numbers of private homes that developers are building, many of which are totally unaffordable and many of which are still being snapped up by the vulture funds.

When it comes to owning up and telling us what the Government is directly responsible for, there is complete silence. This is a straightforward question. Will the Government meet its target of 3,550 affordable homes that were promised to be delivered through AHBs and local authorities last year or will last year be like every other year of this Government and the targets will be missed once again?

The Taoiseach

I do not have those numbers available yet but I think they will be available in the next couple of weeks. I want to acknowledge that rents are very high for far too many people in this country and that a lot of people are waiting far too long to be in a position to buy their own home. This is something that the Government is helping with. The rent credit, for example, is worth €750 per renter per year, this year. It was worth €500 per year last year. Many people are claiming that and it is helping them with the rent. We also have the new form of cost-rental housing. This is a form of public housing that allows people to rent at more affordable rates. That is really taking off now and is proving to be very popular. We will see a lot more of that being built around the country in the coming years.

When it comes to first-time buyers, we are helping them with schemes that the Deputy wants to abolish, like the help-to-buy scheme, and the first home scheme. That is making a huge difference. We saw figures come out only in the last couple of days, which show that the number of first-time buyers drawing down their first mortgage is at its highest level since 2007. That is an extraordinary change from where we were only a few years ago. In 2007, I was in my 20s. We are actually back to that now. Those are the kind of numbers that we are now seeing of people buying their first homes, which is really encouraging.

We have also seen a big uptick in the number of new homes being built. More than 33,000 new homes were built last year. That does not include derelict homes brought back into use or student accommodation. We are now seeing numbers that we have not seen in 15 years, in terms of new homes being built, and first-time buyers at a level that I have not seen since I was in my late 20s. That is really encouraging but of course I acknowledge that we are catching up on a period where that was not the case and we have a big deficit yet to close against the backdrop of a rising population.

I do need to mention two things the Deputy said because it is important in this House that we are honest and accurate on the issue of housing. This a sensitive issue and many people are hurting. They do not need misinformation from the Opposition or from any other quarter. The Deputy said that a couple must earn €127,00 per year to buy a new house in Dublin. That creates a false impression. First, the particular survey the Deputy referred to refers three-bedroom homes only and to new homes only. Most first-time buyers do not buy new homes. They buy second-hand homes for the obvious reason that they are less expensive. Many first-time buyers buy two-bed homes, not three-bed. The Deputy is picking a particular example with three different caveats and then trying to make out that is the case for everyone when he knows it is not. The survey also made the assumption that people can only borrow 3.3 times their income. The Deputy knows that is not the case anymore. It also did not take into account the Government's first home scheme, which closes the affordability gap for so many people. The Deputy created a false impression and he should not do so. Quite frankly, he should not have to do so.

The Deputy pushed the narrative that enormous numbers of young Irish people are leaving Ireland to go overseas because of the housing crisis and that this is a one-way street. We know of course that is not a one-way street. While 80,000 Irish citizens left to live abroad for many different reasons in the past three years, 90,000 came back. We know that if we look at places like Australia and cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, the ratios of house prices to income are much the same as they are in Ireland.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

I did mention that it was a new house and I talked about an average three-bedroom house, so let us be clear about that. I also said that it is unacceptable. I genuinely believe that it is unacceptable that a person has to earn €127,000 to buy a new, average three-bedroom house in this city. It is unacceptable that a person has to earn more than €100,000 to buy in Cork where the Minister sitting beside the Taoiseach is from. We have an affordability crisis. The Taoiseach did not mention that the CSO talked last week about the fact that house prices have gone up another 10% in the past 12 months. That is the reality. A sizeable number of people feel locked out of the housing market. The Taoiseach may dismiss the fact that 21,000 young people left to go to Australia last year. That is just one area; they are going to Canada, London and elsewhere. Some of them have done what young people have done before them, to go for adventure and experience, but there is a sense that people are locked out and they have to put their lives on hold because of the runaway house prices that the Government is overseeing.

I asked the Taoiseach a simple question, which he just batted off and saying, "I do not have that information." This goes to the core of the matter. The Government has responsibility for the delivery of social and affordable homes. It had a target of 3,550 to be delivered last year. It produced a glossy 44-page document without a single utterance of whether it has failed to meet its target, the same way it failed to meet its target in every single one of the preceding three years. Will the Government again fail to deliver on its target for affordable homes as it just like it and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in their first four years in office?

Deputy Matt Carthy

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach

The statement the Deputy made earlier was not correct because he did not take account of the first home scheme. The whole point of the scheme established by the Government is to close the affordability gap, where there is a gap between what a new house costs to buy and what a person can get in a mortgage. If we take into account the first home scheme, which thousands of people are now using and which Sinn Féin wants to abolish, it is possible for couple on an income below €127,000 to buy those homes mentioned by the Deputy. It is even there in the survey if he chooses to read it. There is a little asterisk that notes it does not take account of the first home scheme. People all over the country are now using the scheme to buy new homes and it is wrong that Sinn Féin and the left want to abolish it and take that opportunity away from first-time buyers.

On our housing targets, more than 30,000 new homes were built last year, the highest number in 15 years. Some 500 first-time buyers are drawing down mortgages per week, the most we have seen since I was in my late 20s. That is what we are seeing in the market. There is more social housing than in any year since the 1970s. We do not have exact figures for cost-rental and affordable houses yet but we will and I am sure there will be more of them than in the previous year.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

The Government will miss its target again.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

I too welcome the good news about the progress overnight in Northern Ireland towards the long overdue restoration of the Stormont institutions and the executive.

Is í tithíocht an cnámh spairne is mó sa Stát. Tá géarghá le níos mó tithíocht a aimsiú agus a thógáil go práinneach ach teastaíonn go leor féinsmachta chuige sin. Níl aon dul chun cinn á dhéanamh.

The housing disaster continues to dominate every aspect of Irish life. Last week, we saw new figures on homelessness. Thousands of people, including nearly 4,000 children, are recorded as homeless. Large companies, such as Ryanair, are now resorting to buying up homes for their workforces at scale. Some unscrupulous landlords are acting with impunity. We are seeing the health of renters and local authority tenants suffer due to poor conditions, including mould and damp, with little action or follow-up from inspectors.

It is a core function and duty of the State to vindicate the right of everyone who lives here to have decent, secure and affordable housing. In allowing this housing crisis to deepen and worsen, the Government is failing to fulfil that duty, and people across the country are worse off as a result. I want to focus on the rights of tenants. We spoke last week on Leaders' Questions about the respiratory ill-health of council tenants in the Oliver Bond flats. Today I want to talk about the ways in which the State is also failing renters in the private sector. We are all too familiar with the many cases concerning Luxembourg-based landlord Marc Godart. Without commenting on the proceedings against him currently in respect of unpaid rewards by the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, his other recent appearances in the news underscore the need for stronger legal protections for renters. Mr. Godart's tenants have faced the removal of essential furniture, such as beds and doors, to expedite the eviction process. Some were evicted en masse to facilitate letting through short-stay tourism websites. Others had to deal with the installation of CCTV cameras in their private living areas, which is an unimaginable incursion on people's privacy.

It is true that some of these outrageous actions have been dealt with by the RTB, which is welcome. However, the bravery of Mr. Godart's tenants in coming forward has prompted other renters to contact me, my Labour Party colleagues and no doubt others in this House to tell those stories of poor treatment by landlords in the private rental sector. Unfortunately, while all these experiences were stark, many did not amount to a breach of our weak legal protections for renters. The Labour Party Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill would have addressed all these problems and more but the Government refuses to pass it or to take anything more than token measures to protect renters. No one should have to live in squalor or insecure housing. As long as the Government continues to fail to deliver enough homes, more and more people will be trapped in rental insecurity.

Will the Taoiseach commit to urgently passing stronger legislation to protect renters and will he ramp up delivery of homes? When will the Government act with the necessary ambition and urgency to deliver the supply of houses our renters and all of those who are trapped in insecurity so desperately need?

The Taoiseach

I join Deputies Bacik and Doherty in welcoming the news earlier this morning that the DUP is willing to re-enter power-sharing in Northern Ireland. This paves the way for democratic and devolved government to be restored, for the assembly to function and for the executive to meet and make decisions for Northern Ireland. Crucially, it will also allow the North-South bodies, including the North-South Ministerial Council, to work again. Many of the problems people face in Northern Ireland are very similar to those we face here and it is important that they have a democratic and devolved government up and running to deal with those very real issues. I had a chance to speak with the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier today. He briefed me on the situation and we agreed to continue to work together on issues of mutual interest and mutual concern such as this. It is hoped that we can have the institutions up and running and the necessary legislation passed in Westminster before 8 February. It is very positive that as we enter the spring, there is new hope that the Good Friday Agreement can work again. I think we will all agree that this would be very desirable.

Once again, I appreciate that a lot of people are suffering because of the housing crisis and that this manifests itself in different ways, including renters paying rents that are too high or having a bad experience with their landlords, but we are making progress and we are helping. As I mentioned earlier, 33,000 new homes were built last year, which is the highest number in 15 years, and 500 first-time buyers are drawing down their first mortgage every week. We have not seen this since 2007 when I was in my late twenties. That is how much it has changed in the past couple of years and how much progress we are making. We are also seeing dereliction and vacancy rates falling, in part because of the actions this Government has taken.

Regarding the matters raised by the Deputy, for obvious reasons, I do not want to go into individual cases when I do not know all the details and I do not want to say anything that might jeopardise prosecutions or enforcement actions that are under way. In terms of what we can do to help renters, we have brought in the rent tax credit, which is putting a month's rent back into the pockets of average renters. We have brought in new laws to extend the terms people are given such as the notice to quit time period so people can have more time to find a new home if they need to. We are also dramatically expanding cost rental, which is a new form of affordable housing and a new form of public housing where the Government in partnership with others provides properties that people can rent at affordable rates where they do not qualify for social housing. We are going to continue to build on that in the years ahead. We are always open to considering ideas and recommendations from other parties as to how we can strengthen renters' rights but we need to make sure that we get the balance right.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

I welcome the Taoiseach's comments on the likely progress in Northern Ireland. I think we all welcome it.

However, in terms of housing, there is simply not enough progress from Government nor is there enough ambition or urgency in the delivery of housing. I listened carefully to the Taoiseach's response on housing and I am glad that he said that the Government will take Opposition suggestions on board. Two years ago, we put forward a Bill to protect renters and provide for greater legal security for renters. The Government has not worked with us to progress that Bill. We are again asking the Taoiseach to do so to ensure stronger protections for renters because that is an essential part of addressing the housing crisis. It is a crisis that is biting and affecting every household. Every one of us has had experience of meeting constituents and people coming up to us on the street - it happened to me again at the weekend out canvassing - and telling us ,"I may be okay but my adult children will never be able to afford a home in Dublin in the current circumstances." That is what is driving people to emigrate. That is what is thwarting and stunting people's growth and development - the growth and development of our younger generation. We are simply not seeing the sort of delivery. Even in respect of the Taoiseach's figures, just one in 50 of the 6,300 applications for the vacant property refurbishment grants have been drawn down while renters' rights remain far too weak. When will the Government act to ensure we have stronger renters' rights in law and when will it announce those revised upwards housing targets so we can see the necessary scale of ambition to deliver the homes we need?

The Taoiseach

We are always happy to consider proposals for new laws and regulations but any time we consider a new law or regulation, we must always consider the unintended consequences.

We have seen that play out so many times. When renters are surveyed, as the Deputy will know from the recently published survey, approximately 80% say they have a favourable experience. That still leaves 20% with a bad experience. That is a lot of people when you consider the number of people who are renting. What we want to do with the RTB, in particular, is make sure it is better at enforcing the laws that already exist. That works both ways. I meet lots of renters who are annoyed with the RTB for not enforcing the laws that exist already. I also meet landlords who have not received rent for months, whose properties have been damaged and who do not believe the RTB is working in their favour. We need to make sure that organisation is properly resourced and staffed and has the right IT systems so it can enforce existing laws. That is something I know the Minister is working hard on.

Deputy Carol Nolan

During Leaders' Questions last July, and several times since, I have raised the backlog of 1,000 disabled applicants who are seeking a primary medical certificate. As the Taoiseach is aware, the primary medical certificate scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT and is open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or passenger. To qualify for the relief the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate, which is issued by the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal. However, this entire process was badly delayed when the board and its members resigned in 2021. I welcome the progress that has been made, and the intervention from the Minister for Finance, because the board has since been reinstated. That is certainly welcome and is one step forward, but there are many more steps to be taken with this whole issue.

One of the key reasons for the resignation of the previous board members was unfortunately the ridiculous severity of the eligibility criteria for a primary medical certificate. That caused and continues to cause much frustration. When I raised this issue with the Tánaiste directly last July, he acknowledged there was an earlier scheme in the 1990s that was far broader and more flexible in scope. He was referring to the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994, which allowed for eligibility on medical grounds for disabled persons who were severely and permanently disabled, including those wholly or almost wholly without the use of both hands or arms, or wholly or almost wholly without the use of one leg.

This is the precise case of my constituent David Dignan, who has had his hand and much of his left arm amputated. However, despite a number of attempts to apply for a primary medical certificate, he has been denied it. This is absurd. It is not right or acceptable that a man with such a lifelong disability is being denied a primary medical certificate. David has spoken widely in local media about how the refusal of a primary medical certificate has forced him to the brink of poverty. I appeal to the Taoiseach to do what he can about the eligibility criteria. The re-establishment of the board of appeal was a welcome and positive move, but all of that work is being undermined because of the way in which the eligibility criteria for a primary medical certificate are being applied. They are being applied with a bureaucratic zeal that is contrary to our obligations on the rights of disabled persons.

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Nolan for raising this important issue. Everyone in the House can agree that we need to do all we can to ensure people with disabilities have independence and freedom and can take up employment, use a car, travel and do all of things we and they need to do. I do not have an up-to-date note on the primary medical certificate, but I will get more information for the Deputy as soon as I can. I know the Minister of Finance is seized of the matter. He has appointed new board members, as the Deputy mentioned, and is trying to get through the backlog of cases that need to be considered.

Of course, we can review the criteria to see if we can include more people. It is never an easy thing to do because no matter what the criteria or the rules are, there will always be people who do not qualify, no matter what scheme we set up. I take the Deputy's point that in some cases the rules are too harsh and perhaps being enforced too strictly. I will certainly discuss that with the Minister, Deputy McGrath.

Deputy Carol Nolan

I thank the Taoiseach for his comments and commitment to pursue the issue further. We are talking about 1,000 applicants here and even if that number were to increase slightly, it would not put the State under undue pressure. This is something that we can do and is achievable. It is something we must do to ensure that this State has credibility in supporting and upholding the rights of people with disability.

I also ask the Taoiseach to take this on board. It is my understanding that the Minister could bring forward a statutory instrument that would resolve this matter. I again stress that we are talking about small numbers here. There is an onus on us now to deliver for those people. There are 1,000 of them now and, as I said, that figure may increase slightly. These people have been unfairly treated. They need primary medical certificates and it is only fair that they get them.

The Taoiseach

I have also come across one or two not dissimilar cases in my constituency. The Deputy has my assurance that I will follow up on this. The Minister, Deputy McGrath, is in Brussels today but I will see him during the week and we will try to make some changes to make things better.

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

In recent months, we have seen the devastation caused by flooding in Midleton. In fairness, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister for enterprise and a whole host of Ministers visited the area where businesses and families were left devastated. Extra funding was given. However, long before Midleton there is a place that the Taoiseach's satnav did not seem to find. It is in County Roscommon and is called Lough Funshinagh. In fairness, the Minister with responsibility for the OPW and the Minister for agriculture visited it. Neither the Taoiseach nor Micheál Martin seemed to hear about Lough Funshinagh in County Roscommon. In fairness, the junior Minister with responsibility for the OPW gave money and Roscommon County Council started work out of the budget from the OPW.

There are so-called friends of the environment while an SAC is dying on its feet. At the moment, the trees are actually dying. Worse still, the council is advising elderly people to leave their homes. This has been going on for years. Having spoken to these elderly people, I believe they do not intend to leave and will weather this out. They are sick and tired of what is going on. In fairness to the Minister of State, he put money there.

When the country needed to put jet engines in for power, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, came into the Dáil and legislation on Bord na Móna went through in one week. We were able to sign emergency legislation to bypass all European directives to make sure we could do the works because our country was in danger of losing power. That was done right around the country. Unfortunately, the Minister for arts, heritage and the Gaeltacht did not even visit the area where an SAC is dying on its feet. I do not blame the Minister with responsibility for it because his hands are in chains, between the courts down there and EU legislation. The Taoiseach has met Ursula von der Leyen often enough and he knows people in Europe. The head guy over environment was over here on the derogation. What have we done to try to help those elderly people? The Taoiseach may say they are out in the sticks; if this happened in Dublin it would be sorted. These people deserve better than what is going on at the moment. The Taoiseach has it in his hand and can sign emergency legislation to bypass.

It was done in the Corrib gas field. The Taoiseach has it in his grasp to sign that legislation to bypass European directives, prevent the death of an SAC or so-called SAC and save people's lives. The solution up to now was to knock one house and move the people. Will the Taoiseach do that for those people? Will he help the Minister of State to get this situation resolved for those people, rather than forcing them to fight the height of water that is coming at them once again?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know he has raised it before in the Dáil. It is a very distressing situation for people living and earning their livelihood around Lough Funshinagh. I have not had the chance to visit but am familiar with the area and it has been raised with me personally by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and Senator Dolan. The Minister of State, the OPW and Roscommon County Council are working to find a resolution to the issue. Temporary defences will be deployed in the interim. The Minister of State plans to meet with the Lough Funshinagh flood crisis committee on Thursday.

Since the beginning of January, the level of the lough has risen by about 300 mm, giving an average daily rate of rise of about 1 cm. The level of the lough is presently 325 mm below the road level in some areas. The lough, if it continues to rise at this rate, could overtop the road and inundate properties in less than a month's time. To mitigate the risk of that, Roscommon County Council plans to employ temporary defences along the top of the road. This work will likely need to commence in the next one to two weeks. In advance of the work starting, it will be necessary for the families in at least two properties to vacate their homes until such time as the lake levels are lower. The timescale is difficult to predict but could be of the order of four months. Officials from the council have already engaged with these families and will help them in any way they can.

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

I am astounded the Taoiseach even read that out. That was everywhere. Everyone knows what Roscommon County Council said. The Taoiseach did not listen to the question I asked him. I ask about the power the Government has. Bear in mind that when this case was being taken internal documents reveal the Attorney General was going to take the part of the person taking the case against Roscommon County Council.

Will the Taoiseach stand with his Minister of State? The money has been put aside and three quarters of the work has been done. Will the Taoiseach or whoever has to sign it, be it the Minister, Deputy Ryan, or the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, sign the emergency legislation protocol that it is in their hands to do? It was done regarding the gas pipeline in Mayo. It was done when the engines were being put in because the State was in danger of losing power. This House did not object to that. Will the Taoiseach do this for the sake of saving lives? This is not only about the people who are there. There are septic tanks now flowing into a turlough. Do the environmentalists believe that is good for it? There is material from slatted sheds going into the turlough and the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Martin, have it in their grasp to talk to Europe and sign this to get it going - not to talk about people leaving their houses, but to get the few hundred yards of this that has to be finished, which the Minister of State put the money together for.

The Taoiseach

I confess I am genuinely not sure precisely what emergency legislation the Deputy is referring to. I know something about emergency legislation because I have been involved in it on a number of occasions in government. It is not as clear-cut as the Government deciding it wants to declare an emergency and bring about emergency legislation. It requires-----

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

It can bypass EU regulation with legislation in an emergency.

The Taoiseach

Yes, but it is not as simple as the Government-----

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

Yes, it is.

The Taoiseach

-----just deciding what an emergency is and is not.

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

Is someone going to get drowned not an emergency?