Tánaiste acknowledges 'very deep personal crisis' for many of housing shortage

Leo Varadkar also said pay rises have been paid for the vast majority of public servants, but acknowledged that that hasn't been the case in large parts of our health service

Ivana Bacik hit out at the huge number of sites, about 11,000 in the Dublin area, with planning permissions which are not being acted upon. Picture: Denis Minihane

The housing shortage in Ireland is a “very deep social crisis” and a “very deep personal crisis” for many people, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has admitted.

Speaking in the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions, Mr Varadkar was responding to calls from Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty to introduce a three-year rent increase ban.

Mr Varadkar thanked Mr Doherty for putting on the record of the Dáil individual stories of people struggling to find a home and the toll that has taken on them.

He said absolutely everyone on the Government side of the House and everyone in Government accepts that we have a deep crisis when it comes to housing.

“We've seen a big increase in our population. We have an economy that's growing very fast. New households are being formed every day and we haven't been able to build enough new homes and apartments to keep up with that increasing demand over the past 10 years,” he said.

“And we acknowledge that that has led to a very deep social crisis that's affecting our country and indeed, a very deep personal crisis for a lot of people as well,” he added.

Mr Varadkar said such pressures are manifesting in lots of different ways, including very high rents that people have to pay and younger people struggling to buy their first home.

“We see it in homelessness now rising again, and we also see it as you've outlined in some of the difficulties that the public sector, the health service, the education sector and private companies are having in recruiting and retaining staff particularly in Dublin and our cities,” he added.

The Tánaiste said there is some real progress, adding that it is anticipated that this year 28,000 new homes will be built — more than any year "in maybe 10 years". He said that figure doesn't include derelict homes being brought back into use and it doesn't include student accommodation.

Mr Doherty said the devasting state of the housing crisis is the result of 11 years of Fine Gael being in Government.

Labour Leader Ivana Bacik also raised the housing crisis, saying in Dublin the lack of housing is impacting hugely on businesses being able to hire staff. She hit out at the huge number of sites, about 11,000 in the Dublin area, with planning permissions which are not being acted upon.

In response, Mr Varadkar said: “I want to acknowledge at the outset that the public service and a lot of private businesses are really struggling to recruit and retain staff at the moment, especially in Dublin but not just in Dublin, all over the country. And yes, of course, housing is a factor in that”.

Mr Varadkar said he agreed with Ms Bacik in terms of sites that are not being developed and planning permissions that are not being activated. There is planning permission for about 70,000 new homes in Ireland at the moment, he said, adding that most of them are apartments and most of them are in our cities.

He said the Government has introduced the derelict sites levy to tax land that is not being developed where planning exists. “We're bringing in the vacant property tax so that somebody has property that is habitable and it's empty, they are taxed as well,” he said.

Mr Varadkar also pointed to the Cri Conaithe scheme to make apartment developments more viable. He also cited the funding by the State to deliver student campuses across the country.

Nurses' pay

Meanwhile, Mr Doherty also hit out at the fact that half of the nurses in the State did not get the pay agreement increase that they were entitled to that other public sector workers got in October.

Mr Varadkar said those pay increases for all public servants kicked in in October and have been backdated to February. They have been paid for the vast majority of public servants, but he acknowledged that that hasn't been the case in large parts of our health service.

“We agree it's not acceptable. The people that work in the health service should get their pay increase at the same time as civil servants and teachers and gardaí and everyone else. So, we're working on that, you know, the payroll systems and health service don't operate the way they should. That is our responsibility to fix that,” he said.