GE2024 HousingLAST UPDATE | 11 Nov
HOW TO MEET the needs of a new generation of would-be home-buyers, the eviction ban and powerful personal testimonies marked the first televised debate of the election campaign.
Representatives of six different parties faced off on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon, in an hour-long gathering that mainly saw politicians trade policy positions before clashing over the outgoing government’s record on homelessness.
The debate featured housing minister and Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien, Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, the Social Democrats’ Rory Hearne and People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett.
The programme heard a range of experiences from people who have faced challenges in the housing system. One man spoke of staying in a mobile home with his partner and their two infant children as they struggled to buy a house, despite having saved upwards of €50,000 for a deposit.
It got most heated after hearing from a woman who has been living in a homeless hub with her young son. Chloe told the programme that after her creche closed, she soon found her rental home becoming unaffordable.
"I was privately renting a property for €2,700 a month... issues came across with my boy's creche, I left my job and couldn't sustain the rent, and I had to declare myself homeless..."
— Upfront with Katie Hannon (@RTEUpfront) November 11, 2024
Chloe speaks to Katie about facing Christmas while living in a homeless hub.#rteupfront pic.twitter.com/2LVFvFLyDJ
Donohoe and Ó Broin criticised each other over their response to the homelessness crisis, with the Sinn Féin TD claiming that parents such as Chloe had to deal with “so much hardship and trauma” due to policies from the minister for housing and Donohoe, former minister for finance who refused to fund the homes that you needed to prevent you being in emergency accommodation”.
“This is a standard Sinn Féin approach, because they want you to make this into a debate of ‘they care and I don’t',” Donohoe hit back, adding that Ó Broin wanted to reduce the issue “into an argument about compassion.”
Accused of trying to deflect to “get in the way of a solution” by Donoghue, Ó Broin said the situation infuriates him.
“Homelessness angers me. Homelessness angers me minister. I’m angry because of your failures,” the Dublin Midwest TD said, adding “do something about it Paschal.”
"How can you bring forward a plan that doesn't deliver the affordability you promised..."
— Upfront with Katie Hannon (@RTEUpfront) November 11, 2024
Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe hits out at Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin, who responds in kind...#RTEUpfront pic.twitter.com/oXFT02Vbcq
In his pitch to voters, Ó Broin said Sinn Féin has a plan for the “most ambitious” affordable housing scheme in the history of the state. He said part of this plan would include a measure meaning that while an individual owns their home, they don’t own the land it’s built on.
Defending against charges that this would put people in a lesser situation to others currently owning their home, Ó Broin said it’s the “only way you can deliver those homes” at affordable prices.
Presenter Hannon later turned to the current housing minister, O’Brien next, telling him that the figure of more than 4,000 children homeless in Ireland was “not a stellar record to be going to the people on” in this election.
Responding, O’Brien said that the party was determined to deliver more social homes, which under its manifesto plans released today would include directly-building at least 12,000 social homes per year.
He also told Chloe in the studio: “I’m really sorry you’re in that situation, genuinely.”
O’Brien added: “It’s not a situation families should be in, and I know that – I have a family myself. I represent people in my own area in Fingal who have been in this situation. It’s what drives me everyday to deliver more social homes, that’s the way out of this.”
Meanwhile, Labour’s Bacik credited Chloe for “bringing humanity” to a debate that she aid is often mired in statistics. The Dublin Bay South TD said it needed to be kept in mind that every one of the 4,000 children currently homeless in Ireland is seeing their life “destroyed” by staying in homeless accommodation.
Hearne, who authored a best-selling book 2022 ‘Gaffs’ about the housing crisis, pointed to the lifting of the eviction ban last year by the coalition as the key decision driving homeless in recent times.
He said the delivery of affordable housing was an “absolute red line” for the Social Democrats to help people who have been “locked out” of a home.
Hearne later accepted that he was not proposing a state construction company – as pledged by Labour and People Before Profit and previously promoted by Hearne in his coverage of the housing crisis – but said instead that the Social Democrats want to see local councils take on greater roles in building.
Government representatives, outnumbered on the panel, continued to take criticism from different quarters. Boyd Barrett accepted he was “like a broken record” in his fierce attacks on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but said the housing crisis had gotten “worse and worse and worse”.
He next told O’Brien, referencing Fianna Fáil’s record. “You caused the crash, leading to building to stop for ten years,” he said.
“You’ve promised you’d improve things and homelessness has quadrupled since that time.”
The programme also looked at the help-to-buy schemes – earlier today some analysts told The Journal that Fine Gael’s plan to hike Help to Buy grants by a third to €40,000 and to expand the First Homes shared equity scheme to second-hand property, would result in prices being pushed even higher.
Fianna Fáil’s party policy launch this morning involved a similar pledge to expand shared equity to second-hand homes. This is where the state purchases a stake of up to 30% in a new home to help first-time buyers bridge the gap between their mortgage and deposit and the price.
O’Brien claimed that “any independent analysis” will show the schemes are “not inflationary”, adding that they
“The evidence is they’re helping more first time buyers buy homes than we’ve seen in 18 years,” O’Brien said.
“Any independent analysis will show they are not inflationary”
— Upfront with Katie Hannon (@RTEUpfront) November 11, 2024
Fianna Fáil’s @DarraghOBrienTD denies the Help to Buy scheme is driving up the price of #housing #rteupfront @rtenews pic.twitter.com/hYhfLoacfo
However, Bacik said Labour would like to see “phase out” the Help to Buy scheme which she criticised for having “knocked up the price of houses”.
It’s instead proposing schemes such as ‘save to buy’ in its stated bid to support home ownership. The scheme is what Bacik called a targetted scheme to support people in saving towards deposit, with up to €30,000 proposed for people to get back from the state if they save that amount over three years.
With housing done for now, Upfront is to return next week with a debate featuring a total of ten different party leaders.
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