TDs must back Sinn Féin motion to tackle housing crisis in Cork East – Pat Buckley TD

Sinn Féin TD for Cork East Pat Buckley has urged all TDs to back a motion the party is bringing to the Dáil to dramatically increase direct capital investment in the delivery of genuinely affordable homes to buy in Co Cork.

The motion will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow evening and would stand up for ordinary workers and families locked out of home ownership due to government failure to invest in genuinely affordable homes in Cork East and across the state.

Speaking today, Teachta Buckley said:

“Sinn Féin will bring forward a motion in the Dáil tomorrow to call on the government to dramatically increase direct capital investment in the delivery of genuinely affordable homes for people to buy.

“As we have seen here in Cork East house prices continue to spiral out of control. Far too many people on ordinary incomes are locked out of home ownership. The Government is out of touch and isn’t grasping the extent or urgency of this crisis. Meanwhile, people are trapped into paying sky high rents while their hopes of home ownership slip even further out of reach.

“The latest CSO Property Price Index shows house prices increased by 15% state wide in the last year.

“Despite this crisis, the government is failing to act to support people on ordinary incomes. Shockingly, the Government delivered zero affordable purchase homes in 2020 or 2021. The Government has provided funding for just a paltry 550 affordable purchase homes through its Affordable Housing Fund in 2022. This is nowhere near good enough.

“Not only is the government not helping people hit by the housing crisis, they are actively making the situation worse through their flawed policies. Government policies including Help to Buy and Shared Equity have and will continue to inflate house prices.

“Behind these figures are real people here in Cork East who are having to put their lives on hold due to the housing crisis. People are living in their family’s box room, or trapped renting apartments with sky high costs, while house prices around them soar beyond reach. 

“Sinn Féin is committed to ending the housing crisis and ensuring that people can buy genuinely affordable homes. I am bringing forward this motion calling on the government to dramatically increase direct capital investment in the delivery by Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies of genuinely affordable homes to purchase.

“Sinn Féin’s motion also commits the government to urgently revise the affordable purchase home targets agreed with Local Authorities to deliver on average at least 4,000 affordable purchase homes a year from 2022 to 2026. It would also scrap the scandalous Help to Buy scheme and Shared Equity Loan scheme which push up prices and divert the funding into the delivery of genuinely affordable homes.

“Crucially, it would ensure that all affordable purchase homes are sold at prices that working people can afford.

“I am urging all TDs to back Sinn Féin’s motion in the Dáil tomorrow. The housing crisis is devastating lives in Co Cork and across the country. The government can and must do much more to ensure people can buy a genuinely affordable home.

“Sinn Féin in government would make tackling the housing crisis a priority, to ensure that ordinary workers and families can buy a home.”