Government aids “speculator landlords” and “profiteering developers”
The following exchange over housing, between Joe Higgins, Socialist Party (CWI) TD (member of Irish parliament), and The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), took place in Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament) on 10 May.
socialistworld.net
Joe Higgins demands for social housing
Dáil Éireann, Leaders’ Questions, Wednesday 10th May 2006
Joe Higgins (Socialist Party):
Is the Government trying to add to the agony of the tens of thousands of young workers who are priced out of the housing market? The Minister for Social and Family Affairs announced a study which will take several months on some kind of mortgage support for them, during which the price of a house will have increased a further €10,000 and created even more problems for them. Is the Minister cynically constructing an alibi to defend himself from a belt from the Comptroller and Audit General over shovelling around €400 million of taxpayers’ money to speculator landlords in rent supplements instead of building social and affordable houses for the 50,000 families who are priced out the market and the tens of thousands of other young workers who cannot afford to buy a house?
Is it not striking that in nine years of his party being in Government, any time he has feebly examined the rocketing house prices, he has never once pointed at the real source of the problem, namely, the land speculator, the profiteering developer and the financial institution? The Government’s policies have bloated them further rather than cut them off at the legs.
Mr. F. McGrath:
Hear, hear.
J. Higgins:
Typical young workers are in their 30s and in Dublin they will pay €375,000 for a new home. My Independent colleagues advise me that a similar position applies through the country.
Dr. Cowley:
It is disgraceful.
J. Higgins:
Young people who must pay €375,000 for a three bed-roomed home are forced to take a 40-year mortgage. This morning I asked a bank manager to work out the figures based on the house price I gave and he told me that, on a mere 4% constant interest, a person would have to pay a staggering €750,000 before he or she would own the home. If interest rates increase to only 6%, the house buyer would have to pay the even more staggering price of €1 million for a modest home. Young people will be in their 70s and still paying their mortgages. Is it any wonder the Minister for Social and Family Affairs is on a systematic campaign to undermine the entirely human and reasonable expectation that workers should retire at 60 or 65 years of age with a reasonable pension when Government policy on housing is utterly subservient to the capitalist marketplace and workers will be enslaved to the banks into their 70s merely to put a roof over their heads?
Why are there not foot high headlines about the extent of this extortion in the media? Every wing of the establishment is compromised in property speculation.
Mr. F. McGrath:
Hear, hear.
J. Higgins:
Rich doctors, rich lawyers and politicians are up to their necks in it. Endless acreage of advertising by house developers means endless millions in advertising revenue for newspaper proprietors. There is a powerful vested coalition of interests conspiring to cover up the extent of the rip off of young workers and the Government is assisting those vested interested. How does the Taoiseach answer in that regard?
The Taoiseach:
The only question I could pick up was that Deputy Joe Higgins asked if a review is taking place of the rent subsidy for the 60,000 people who are in receipt of it. The answer to that question is yes, such a review is taking place. It is designed to find ways and mechanisms and to encourage those concerned to use many of the schemes in place to obtain home ownership rather than to remain endlessly in receipt of rent subsidies which is against their better social interests.
J. Higgins:
They cannot afford to buy a home, as the Taoiseach well knows.
An Ceann Comhairle [Chair]:
I ask the Deputy to allow the Taoiseach to reply without interruption.
The Taoiseach:
The State pays huge rent subsidies to these 60,000 people.
Ms Burton:It pays the subsidies to the landlords.
The Taoiseach:
It would be far better—–
Mr. Gogarty:
It would be far better to deal with the paymasters.
Mr. Stagg:
Some common sense is needed.
Mr. Gogarty:
We need to take on the speculators.
The Taoiseach:
It would be far better to provide homes for these people.
Mr. Stagg:
Why does the Government not do that?
The Taoiseach:
Deputy Joe Higgins knows – there is no point in repeating it – that Ireland has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world.
Ms Burton:
It is declining dramatically.
The Taoiseach:
On affordable housing, we are investing substantial resources in significant numbers of houses. It is envisaged that more than 15,000 units will be delivered under various affordable housing schemes this year, next year and into 2008. I gave the details of the Part V programme and the other programmes last week. The total provision of social and affordable housing was €2 billion last year. We are providing €2 billion to address the various issues.
Mr. Gogarty:
That money is helping to increase the profits of the building industry.
The Taoiseach:
As Deputy Joe Higgins pointed out, we spend €400 million on rent supplements each year. That money goes to private landlords. The point made by the Minister, Deputy Brennan, is that it would be far better to spend a substantial part of that money on housing, in addition to the €2 billion we are spending on social housing, rather than giving it to landlords and others involved in this business.
Deputies:
Hear, hear.
The Taoiseach:
The State is spending this money.
J. Higgins:
The Government has been in power for nine years.
The Taoiseach:
This is a very progressive way of bringing about social change—–
Mr. F. McGrath:
Nine years.
The Taoiseach:
—–rather than handing out hundreds of millions of euro, year in, year out.
Mr. Stagg:
The Government is doing that.
The Taoiseach:
In a five-year period—–
Mr. Stagg:
There is no point in blaming us.
The Taoiseach:
—–we would hand out €2 billion to landlords.
J. Higgins:
That is meaningless.
Mr. Cullen:
Listen, Joe.
The Taoiseach:
You should listen, Joe.
Mr. Stagg:
Why has the Government not done something about it before now?
Mr. Cuffe:
It needs to provide more housing.
The Taoiseach:
What we want to do is to use that money.
Mr. S. Ryan:
Why is the Government not building more houses?
Mr. J. Higgins:
After nine years in power—–
The Taoiseach:
Deputy Joe Higgins always gets upset when the Government tries to solve some of the problems he raises.
Mr. Boyle:
The Government caused the problems.
The Taoiseach:
He never wants to solve the problems.
Mr. Boyle:
These are the Government’s problems.
The Taoiseach:
He comes from the category—–
J. Higgins:
The Taoiseach is fooling nobody.
The Taoiseach:
His business is in keeping the poor poor. That gives him a reason to go on.
J. Higgins:
He has been in power for nine years.
The Taoiseach:
The Deputy has no good policies. He is just a negative politician.
Mr. Stagg:
The Government wants to keep people in poverty traps and hovels.
The Taoiseach:
He never wants to see people getting out of anything. He follows the worst of 1930s socialism.
Mr. Cuffe:
At least they built houses in the 1930s.
Mr. Stagg:
Many new houses were built in the 1930s.
(Interruptions).
An Ceann Comhairle:
We need to move on to Europe Day.
Mr. F. McGrath:
The Government has had nine years in which to take
Mr. J. Higgins:
I would like to ask a supplementary question.
An Ceann Comhairle:
We need to move on.
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