Speech by Darragh O'Brien TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage at the 82ú Ard Fheis

A Chairde,

Welcome to this afternoon's session on one of the most important issues facing our country.

I am lucky to be part of a great Fianna Fáil Housing team. I want to recognise Senator Mary Fitzpatrick for her relentless advocacy, fighting for housing in Dublin central.

Deputy Paul McAuliffe for his efforts to advance and expand the Tenant in situ scheme and the hard, thankless hours in committee progressing major planning reform.

Deputy Joe Flaherty who has energetically advocated for vacant housing grants and rural housing and is also putting in the long hours down at committee, making sure we have a planning system that is fit for purpose.

Senator Pat Casey who is working hard to improve and enhance our First Home and Help to Buy schemes.

I am also really delighted to be joined by our candidate for Europe South Cynthia Ni Murchu who is committed to a new European Deal for Housing. I know Cynthia will bring great energy and passion to Europe.

Housing is at the beating heart of Fianna Fáil in government. The men and women of the revolutionary generation who founded our party took up that burden amidst the storms clouds of war and recession. They ushered in a golden era of home building that transformed our country.

We took up that challenge anew, determined to make a real difference in people's lives, and we have never shirked the demands and responsibilities which come with that challenge, even at the toughest points.

And today delegates I can tell you we are turning the tide on housing.

Our Housing for All plan is the single largest investment in housing in the history of our State. It is a fully funded, radical, but realistic plan for our future and it is getting bricks and mortar in the ground.

Over 100,000 homes have been built since 2020 the year Fianna Fáil re-entered government. That is already more homes built than in the past two Governments combined.

That means almost 300,000 people woke up this morning in homes that did not exist before Fianna Fáil entered government. I don't underestimate for one minute the impact that has had on their lives and I want hundreds of thousands more people to experience that too.

And there is a lot more to come. Housing commencements have surged to the highest level ever registered, with a new record already set every month this year.

500 first time buyers are drawing down mortgages every week, the highest levels since 2006.

More single people are now managing to buy their own home with the support of the First Home Scheme.

In fact, a recent report confirms that in the first half of 2023, 37% of purchasers using the scheme were single purchasers, compared to just 28% of all first-time buyers.

More social houses have been built than at any time in half a century and we will break that record again this year. And what this means, very importantly, is that we can exit people from emergency accommodation into safe, secure homes for life.

For those who are renting in what we know is a very constrained market we have introduced a renter's tax credit which we then increased by 50% in last year's budget.

Through the short-term letting legislation we are ensuring that homes in areas of high demand are returned to the long-term rental market.

We are making real progress but times are still very challenging for those struggling to buy a home or pay the rent.

Far too many people are experiencing homelessness, our most pressing challenge.

But supply is the key and in every part of the country we can all see more vans are on the road, more cranes in the sky, more sites opening up, more old houses being revamped, more cement mixers churning, more foundations being laid and more keys being handed over than in a generation.

Our Housing for All plan is taking hold and is transforming our country.

Under Fianna Fáil Ireland is back building again.

However, that progress is at risk from a Party that only cares about exploiting problems not solving them.

The Sinn Féin housing plan is as puzzling as that old riddle "often talked off, never seen, ever coming, never been." For four years they have talked about it but no one has actually seen it.

- Scrap the Help to Buy scheme

- Scrap the First Home Bridge the gap scheme

- Scrap the €70,000 vacant property grant

Almost 150,000 people are benefiting from those schemes. Sinn Féin would pull up the ladder of opportunity up from the next generation looking for that support. Its deeply irresponsible politics that would badly damage home building and home buying.

Fianna Fáil will always stand for the home buyer who wants a home to call their own. We have vital work to be getting on with in government and exciting plans for the future to bring to the people.

Delegates, that's why I am telling this Ard Fheis that I am bringing a paper to cabinet this week to scrap development levies and water connection charges for all homes including rural houses to the end of this year.

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 that make it cheaper for people to build and buy their homes.

Sinn Fein fought the First Home Scheme tooth and nail. They opposed it because they knew it would work and they have no interest in solutions that give people the keys to their own homes. I am delighted to say less than two years into the scheme it has been a rip roaring success with over 4,000 home purchases being supported.

That's why I am telling his Ard Fhéis that I am bringing forward a proposal to extend the First Home Scheme for five more years to help thousands more to bridge the gap to buy their first home.

I will also extend the Fresh Start principle that gives people a second chance to buy a home after a break up.

I am pressing forward with changes that will penalise and prevent bad actors using the planning system for financial gain by preventing homes being built.

The days of our planning system being an ATM for professional objectors is over.

Our new planning bill will transform and streamline our planning system to get more homes built quicker. It will bring clarity, consistency and certainty to a system that has grown too complex and bureaucratic. The opposition have sought to filibuster and delay it but change is coming no matter how hard they try.

A Chairde, over the coming weeks as we compete in the local and European elections we can expect a counsel of despair on housing. Cheap soundbites and no solutions. Objections to housing projects and housing polices.

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 simple fact is that the opposition would end that.

There is a stark and clear choice in the upcoming elections. A choice between real progress and solutions or scrapping supports for home ownership and jeopardising the increase in home building.

I know where Fianna Fail stands. At our best this Party has always looked to the future with clear eyes, a hopeful heart and dogged determination. We are at the forefront of a new era of home building and home buying.

More homes and more home owners. That's our policy and that's our message. It's clear, it's simple, its true, its Fianna Fail at our best. Lets keep up the work.

Go raibh maith agaibh.