Statement in the Dáil during the private members motion on Housing Affordability on 27 January 2015.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
There is a very significant housing crisis in this country and the figures are truly horrendous. A total of 90,000 families languish on local authority housing waiting lists throughout the country. A total of 73,000 families are on rent supplement, in many cases, condemned to live in poor, substandard, damp and insecure accommodation.
For example, in Tipperary, 3,100 people are on the local authority housing waiting list and not a single local authority house will be built in 2015. No council, including Tipperary, has been given a capital allocation for housing this year as yet. This means that the council will be lucky to build any houses in 2016 – or at the very most, it will be at the end of 2016 before they are built.
This huge housing crisis is a result of the policies pursued by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and by this Government slashing the local authority house building programme and privatising housing. The 2020 social housing strategy is a continuation of that privatisation. At the end of that period, we will find that three quarters of the social housing will be provided by private rented accommodation, with only 5,800 new local authority builds per year. Some 40 years ago, in 1975, we were building 8,794 local authority houses. We need to repeat those figures; we need to build at least 10,000 local authority houses for people on the housing waiting list. There is no doubt that the privatisation of public housing has been an absolute disaster. No less a person than Uachtarán na hÉireann has drawn our attention to the issue. He has stated that we have to accept once and for all that people who need housing and cannot provide that from their own means should not be abandoned to the market place and the principle should be accepted that their housing should be as good as any other housing. He stated that one of the most basic deprivations a human being can suffer or fear, is that of being homeless. He further stated that it is about democracy, that one cannot leave the provision of housing to a residual feature of the market place. We have done that and homelessness is the consequence. He also stated that we have to accept that we need a great, huge increase in public rental accommodation.
The Irish Council for Social Housing said something similar when it stated that the over-reliance on the private market to meet social housing demand is unsustainable and ultimately unpredictable. Barnardos states that it is seriously concerned about the scale of the housing crisis now facing many low-income families, particularly those reliant on social welfare.
Many children experience their childhood in overcrowded, unsuitable and insecure accommodation, which affects their social, emotional and educational development. We need an emergency public house building programme, with an absolute minimum of 10,000 local authority builds every year. This programme would be self-financing and would make common sense. It would put construction workers back to work and ensure additional PAYE income for the State. It would also ensure a saving to the State in social welfare payments and it would provide additional rental income for the State. It would also support the local economy, as it would put money in people’s pockets which would ensure a huge boost for local shops and businesses in danger of closing.
What we have heard from the Minister and the Government this evening is not the real world. A total of 90,000 families are on local authority house waiting lists, which is a huge figure. These thousands of families are condemned to live in insecure, poor and substandard accommodation. This must stop.
Greek Election Result is significant not only for Greece and the Greek people but for all of Europe.
Statement in the Dáil during European Council statements on 27 January 2015.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
The election at the weekend of the anti-austerity Syriza party in Greece is a significant development not only for Greece and the Greek people, but also for all of Europe, and particularly for the programme countries including Ireland, Spain and Portugal. I heartily welcome the victory. The Greek people have supported all those in Europe suffering from unjust austerity imposed by the troika.
They have opened the door for the long-suffering Irish people. We must grasp this opportunity with both hands immediately. If Ireland does not join Syriza in supporting and preparing for a European debt conference to write down debt of all programme countries, it will face another 20 years of austerity. The 1952-53 European debt conference, which halved the German debt, gave a moratorium on repayments and extended the repayment period when it started to 50 years, offers a precedent. Another initiative of that nature is absolutely necessary for Ireland, Greece and the other programme countries.
It is regrettable that the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Foreign Affairs have said in recent days that Ireland does not want a debt write-down. I assure them that the 1.4 million Irish people who are affected by deprivation and the 376,000 families that are living in consistent poverty in this State – both figures are taken from last week’s CSO statistics – want a debt write-down. The same thing can be said of the 211,000 children who live in consistent poverty in this country, the 90,000 families on housing waiting lists, the 350,000 people who are unemployed, the 83,000 people who are on schemes and the almost 100,000 people who have emigrated.
If we do not get the debt write-down we seriously need, we will continue in austerity for the next 20 years. That is due to the fiscal treaty, about which we are hearing nothing now. When the fiscal treaty clicks in after the next election, it will impose ongoing austerity for 20 years. The structural deficit will cost us €4.5 billion. After that, the reduction to 60% of GDP will cost approximately €3 billion a year for 20 years. This country needs and wants a write-down. The Government, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste should support Syriza and the other programme countries in calling for a European debt conference.
Department of Health
Nursing Home Inspections
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)407. To ask the Minister for Health the way it is planned to meet the Health Information and Quality Authority requirements in respect of a nursing home (details supplied) in County Tipperary; if a fully costed and funded plan has been submitted to HIQA; if not when it will forward a plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[3873/15]
Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)There are currently 119 public residential units providing a mixture of long-stay and short-stay residential care. All of these, including St Conlon’s Nursing Unit, Nenagh and Dean Maxwell Community Nursing Unit, Roscrea are registered with HIQA. Notwithstanding the problems that some facilities face with structures and facilities, the vast majority of their residents receive excellent levels of care. Without these public facilities many older people would simply have nowhere to go, other than our acute hospitals which are already under pressure. It is therefore very important that the services provided by public facilities be maintained.
Demand for capital investment for the Community Nursing Unit programme far exceeds the funding available, and investment must therefore be allocated as effectively as possible based on the HSE’s assessment of priorities.
HIQA has indicated that a number of units do not fully meet the standards one would expect to find in a modern nursing home. This is not surprising given the age and structure of many of our public nursing homes. However, there is adequate flexibility available within the terms of existing legislative provisions, and through ongoing discussions between the HSE and HIQA, for solutions to be found. In this context the HSE has been working with HIQA over the past number of months to meet the re-registration requirements of these units, and my Department is closely monitoring the situation.
Workers & Unemployed Action 