Darragh O’Brien TD,Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage - Fianna Fáil Ard Fhéis

A Chairde,

I want to thank everyone who participated at this session.

To our local election candidates who are taking the message direct from door to door – you have my support and that of the entire panel here.

To Senator Mary Fitzpatrick for her tireless work on the issue, fighting for housing in Dublin central.

To Deputy Paul McAuliffe for his powerful efforts to advance and expand the Tenant in situ scheme.

To Senator Pat Casey who is hosting a series of public information engagements on the suite of first time buyer supports we have in place.

To Deputy Joe Flaherty who has energetically advocated for vacant housing grants and for rural housing.

The session we just had, captured a sense of the importance of housing at the heart of Fianna Fáil in Government and the breadth and intensity of activity that is underway.

It also underlined the scale of the task ahead, and that we are making serious progress but we know there is more to be done.

From the grass roots of our party all the way up to the Cabinet, Housing has always been a Fianna Fáil priority. Today’s session showed that on full display.

Our Housing for All plan is the single largest investment in housing in the history of our state and will see at least 300,000 homes built by 2030.

It is a fully funded, radical, but realistic plan for our future and it is materialising right now in front of us.

·      In the first nine months of this year some 22,433 homes were completed a 9% increase year-on-year. This puts us on track to exceed our housing target this year. Just as we did last year.

·      Approximately 500 First Time Buyers are purchasing their new home each week. Levels which haven’t been seen since 2007.

·      By the end of this year we will see 3,000 individuals and families approved for First Home Scheme meaning they can now buy their new home with the support of the State.

·      More than 2,000 individuals and families have been approved for the Vacant and Derelict Property Grant in just one year of its existence. These grants, of up to €70,000 are breathing new life into cities, towns and villages all across the country.

Housing for All is the only credible housing plan in Ireland and because of it:

• You can buy a local authority affordable purchase home for the first time in more than a decade
•  You can buy a home in a private development with State assistance through the First Home Scheme
• You can have an instant deposit of up to €30,000 with the Help to Buy scheme
• You can get a direct State grant to refurbish a vacant or derelict property up to €70,000
•  You can get a renters tax credit, worth €1,000 in 2023 and €750 per renter thereafter 

To give you a sense of the scale and the speed we are going at, in the past week alone I have approved more than €82M in funding from the Affordable Housing Fund for the delivery of 508 Cost Rental and Affordable Purchase Homes.

This includes the first Cost Rental homes in County Westmeath and 172 Affordable Purchase Homes in Dublin South-Central.

And there is plenty more of where that came from.

More cranes in the sky, vans on the road, cement mixers churning, foundations being laid and keys being handed over than in a generation. 

There are those who seek to deny this progress. And not only are they content with denying this progress they want to block it.

This week we see that a Sinn Fein Deputy has objected to 208 social and affordable homes just two miles from where we are here.

These 208 are added to the thousands more they have objected to all across the country.

The Deputy objected on the grounds of ‘shadowing’. But we know it is Sinn Fein who are casting a dark shadow over people’s hopes of owning their own home with their relentless assault on home ownership.

In a threadbare alternative budget they laid bare their firmly held, ideological belief, that people should not be supported to purchase their own home.

They commit to abolishing the Help-to-Buy scheme which has thus far supported over 40,000 home buyers.

They commit to scrapping the new First Home Scheme which in just over a year of existence has seen almost 7,000 registrations and more than 2,850 approvals issued.

Finally they commit to ending the Vacant and Derelict Property Grant which provides grants of up to €70,000 people to refurbish a home. More than 4,000 applications have already been received by Local Authorities across the country for this grant.

When you ask them what they will replace these very popular direct supports with, nothing, silence, because there is no plan.

Against that cynical and pessimistic view I want to ensure we keep building the homes our people badly need and invest in our future. 

I also want to ensure that our plan benefits every part of the country and helps to ensure rural Ireland can grow and prosper.

That’s why we scrapped development levy fees for one off homes and extended the First Home scheme into self builds.

It’s also why I am telling this Ard Fhéis that I am introducing a new Septic Tank grant scheme worth €12,000 that will be available to all eligible septic tank owners to repair or replace their tanks.

I am also opening up the new rural water scheme to support group water schemes across Ireland and help facilitate new homes in communities the length and breadth of our country. 

The right to build your own home has always been at the core of Fianna Fáil’s housing policy, I am proud to support housing at the beating heart of rural communities with practical, real policies.

A Chairde, over the coming months facing into Local and European elections we can expect the irresponsible politics of Sinn Fein and others to give a counsel of despair on housing.

Cynically they will not go into any detail on what their alternative is.

However the truth is that more homes are being built and more homes are being bought than any time in a generation.

Fianna Fáil has been the driving force behind that transformation and we will continue to support home building and first time buyers. The opposition would end that.

We know that times are still hard for those struggling to buy a home or pay the rent. Far too many people are homeless. We will always recognise this and that is why all of our focus is on providing safe and secure homes to rent or buy, for all our people.

Our belief in a better future is more than just a hope, it can be seen in the surge in home building around Ireland and it is gathering momentum.

Is é an tithíocht an cheist is mó in Éireann. Sin é an fáth go bhfuilimid ag obair chomh crua chun é a réiteach.

Tá fíor athrú déanta againn ar bheartas tithíochta.

Rud is tábhachtach cé go bhfuil dul chun cinn mór a dhéanamh maidir le tithe nua a fháil dár ndaoine.

Anuraidh thógamar níos mó tithe sóisialta nua mar a bhí le beagnach caoga bliain. Tá tithíochta ar phreaghas réisiunta ar fáil anois den chéad uair le cúig bliana deag.

Tá níos mó ceannaitheoirí ceaduaire ag ceannach a dtithe mar gheall ar an obair atá a déanamh againn sa rialtas ó dhá míle is a seacht.

Agus le Fianna Fáil sa rialtas tá an dul chun cinn dairirie seo ag leanúint ar aghaidh.

Sáróimid ár sprioc i mbliana agus déanfaimid níos mó fós an bhliain seo chugainn.

Our party has always looked to the future with clear eyes, a hopeful heart and a sharp determination to make it better for our people.

Nowhere is this more needed than in housing and nowhere is it more evident. We are at the forefront of a new era of home building and home buying, let’s keep the momentum up.

Go raibh maith agaibh.