Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Jan 2024

Vol. 1048 No. 2

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Faoin Rialtas seo, níl dabht ar bith ach go leanfaidh creach-chistí ar aghaidh ag ceannach tithe teaghlaigh atá ag teastáil ó cheannaitheoirí tí atá ag streachailt. Caithfimid stop a chur leis seo. Tá moladh curtha os comhair na Dála ag Sinn Féin chun deireadh a chur leis seo ach tá an Rialtas ag diúltú agus ag cur in éadan an mholta sin.

Last week, it was revealed that an investment fund bought up to 85% of an entire housing estate in Balgriffin, County Dublin. These were homes that should have been on the market for buyers but were instead snatched away from them by investment funds that have the financial power and enjoy the tax advantages that homebuyers can never hope to compete against. In response to these events, the Taoiseach said he would look into this and see whether more needed to be done. However, the Minister and I know that this was not an isolated incident, with funds snapping up homes at an alarming rate right across this city and beyond. Only last year, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, was told by his Department that hundreds of homes were being snapped up by these funds and that the Government's measures were not working. Figures given to me by the Department of Finance show that the number of family homes snapped up by these funds has increased each year, with more than 620 homes bought from under struggling homebuyers last year alone. That was 620 homes in 2023 alone.

Far from what happened with Belcamp Manor in Balgriffin being an isolated incident, a Belcamp Manor is being snapped up by these funds every 30 days. That is what happening and it is happening under the Minister's watch. In less than three years since the Government's half-baked measures were introduced, more than 1,200 homes have been snapped up by these funds. These are homes that should have been available for workers and families to buy, own and live in, yet the Government has decided to do nothing about it. It feigned action. In 2021, the Minister Housing, Local Government and Heritage said, "We need ... to make sure that we don't have first-time buyers competing against large investment funds ... That's not a situation that anyone could stand over, nor indeed that I as housing minister could stand over." However, he has stood over it and is standing over it because he knows exactly what is happening. The funds are buying hundreds of homes every single year under the noses of first-time buyers.

In May 2021, the Government scrambled to respond. In truth, its response paid lip service to the issue. A new tax was introduced to give the appearance of action but it was a bluff. I warned at the time that the tax was too low and would not stop investment funds from snapping up homes that should be available for workers and families to buy. That has proven to be the case. Now that the Government is confronted with the facts, it decides to do nothing about it. This Parliament can ensure that a vulture fund never ever buys a home that should be available to workers and families to buy and live in. We can do that by increasing the stamp duty that applies to them and stopping this practice for once and for all. That is the action Sinn Féin put to the Government in the House yesterday, yet it is opposing it. The only logical conclusion anyone can reach is that this is a government that is on the side of the vulture funds, that is happy for this to continue and that is happy for 85% of an entire development in Dublin to be snapped up by an investment fund and rented out at extortionate rates of more than €3,100 per month. To add insult to injury, those funds will not pay a penny in tax on that rental income. This is a government that is obviously comfortable with the fact that more than 1,200 family homes have been snapped up by investment funds in less than three years, is comfortable with the fact that struggling homebuyers are being priced out of the market by these funds and is comfortable with the fact that these funds are increasing their reach and snapping up more homes than ever before.

How can the Minister stand over this when he stood in the House in 2021 and said he would never stand over it? It is happening at a scale we have not seen before, yet the Government is deciding to do nothing. Will he support the Sinn Féin motion and stamp out vulture funds buying family homes from under the noses of first-time buyers?

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Darragh O'Brien)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht na ceiste. Ar an gcéad dul síos, tá sé tábhachtach a rá go ndearna mé athrú ar dhlí pleanála i mí na Bealtaine 2021. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta faoi sin. Cosnaíonn an t-athrú sin tithe teaghlaigh do dhaoine aonair agus do theaghlaigh. Tá an t-athrú sin ag obair. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta faoi sin freisin. Tá coinníoll ar leith ag baint le 40,000 teach anois iad a dhíol ina n-aonar. Baineann an cheist seo le tithe a bhfuair cead sular athraigh mé an dlí. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta faoi sin freisin. Is é an rud a gcaithfimid breathnú air ná an cháin. Aontaím leis sin.

It is correct to say, which the Deputy neglected to mention, that the planning law was changed. It was changed in May 2021 and since then 40,000 homes, up to October this year, have the owner-occupier guarantee. What pertains in this case, and some others, relates to planning permissions that were granted prior to that date. That was the reason the stamp duty change was brought in. What the Deputy and his colleagues neglected to mention in all of the commentary on this is that we have changed the law on planning and that is working. What we need to look at, which we are doing, is the rate of stamp duty applicable.

We also need to put this in context. If we look at the just less than 1,200 homes that have been purchased in the period since I brought in those planning changes, which relate to planning permissions granted before the change in planning, those homes represent less than 1% of approximately 125,000 property transactions. The planning changes are, therefore, working. Those 1,200 homes are equivalent to the 1,200 homes, in one town alone in Donabate in Fingal, that the Deputy's party objected to - his party colleague is in the front row beside him. Let us talk about context. We are for first-time buyers. We have measures to help them, such as the help-to-buy grant, the first home scheme and the vacancy grant, all of which the Deputy's party would abolish. The Deputy said his party is for first-time buyers but is against every single measure we bring forward, even the measures, such as the first home scheme, which are actually working. There have been nearly 8,000 registrations for that scheme. Some 42,500 families have got their own tax back from their deposits but Sinn Féin would abolish that.

There seems to be a little conflict between Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson and party leader on this because the party spokesperson said he would get rid of those schemes straightaway while the party leader says quietly, when she is talking to people, that there will be no cliff edge. The reality of it is that more first-time buyers are now buying properties, with 600 people a week now drawing down their mortgages, which is the highest rate since 2007. It may disappoint the Deputy to know that later today we will publish the commencement figures for new homes for December. A total of 3,167 commencement notices received in December, which is a 76% increase on the previous December. That is the highest number of December commencements ever on record. It means that 32,000 homes have been started in the past 12 months. That is progress. It means there is progress on new housing delivery, social housing is being delivered at a rate that we have not seen in more than 50 years, there are affordable homes for people for the first time in a generation, and first-time buyers are able to buy.

While it certainly angers me to see 46 homes sold in Belcamp, that related to planning permission granted in 2019. As the Deputy is someone who is familiar with the law, since he has been a Member for quite some time, I expect he will understand that those retrospective changes to granted planning permissions cannot be made. He does not want to say that. However, 40,000 homes have been protected by the owner-occupier guarantee. The stamp duty levy is something that absolutely needs to be reviewed, but let us put this in context. The Deputy said there is a Belcamp Manor every week but there is not. Out of 125,000 property transactions, approximately 1,000 properties have been purchased by vulture funds, which is less than 1%. We back first-time buyers; Sinn Féin does not.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

The Minister can huff and puff all he wants. A Belcamp Manor is happening every month under his watch. He knows it. The figures stand over exactly what I said. There were 623 homes bought by vulture funds and investment funds last year alone.

That is the equivalent of a Belcamp Manor every single month. The majority of those purchases are in the region of Dublin. In the first nine months of last year 70% of completions were apartments. The Minister exempted apartments from all of his planning regulations and stamp duties. Vulture funds are free to go in and buy as many apartments as they wish under this Government. The number of houses completed in the first nine months in Dublin was just over 2,600 homes, some of which were social homes so would never be on the market for ordinary buyers in the first place. Vulture funds bought 623 homes and the Minister tries to pretend that this is a small impact of less than 1%. It is nothing like it. It is having a significant impact in the Dublin market. The Minister told us that he would not stand over it yet he knows about this. Belcamp Manor is no surprise. The Minister for Finance was told in the tax strategy papers last summer that this was happening in the scale of hundreds. That Minister was told that the tax measure was not working. The solution is, as Sinn Féin argued back in 2022, to increase stamp duty on vulture funds to a point where they will not do this. Sinn Féin has a motion before the Dáil and the Government is voting against it. The Minister is feigning outreach and feigning that he will do something. The Government is voting against a solution that will stop vulture funds buying these properties from first-time buyers.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I am simply giving the facts-----

Deputy Thomas Gould

These are the facts.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Relax, Thomas, for a second. I have given the facts. No one wants to see family homes being bulk purchased and that is why I made the planning changes. Whether the Deputy likes it or not those planning changes are working because 40,000 planning permissions are granted now with an owner-occupier guarantee on them, which means they cannot be sold on a bulk basis. That is working. Why are 600 first-time buyers a week able to buy properties and draw down their mortgages at the moment? The Deputy might answer that. They are able to do it because of the support the Government is giving. We will look at this tax measure and we should but let us not say this issue is predominant right the way across the country. The Deputy must put it in context. It is 1% of all property transactions.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

It is double digits in Dublin.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

The State is investing €5 billion in housing this year. Every single measure we brought forward on housing Sinn Féin has opposed. It opposed the Land Development Agency. It opposed it right the way through.

Deputy Thomas Gould

The Government has not built houses.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

We have actually. Whether Sinn Féin likes it or not commencements are up as are completions. We will exceed our target for 2023 as we did in 2022. There are still issues but this Government backs first-time buyers. All that Sinn Féin would do for first-time buyers is abolish every measure there to support them.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

The vulture funds are buying hundreds of homes.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Then the Sinn Féin party leader comes up with this great plan of dropping every house price to €300,000. Deputy Louise O'Reilly was asked-----

Deputy Pearse Doherty

The vulture funds are buying hundreds of homes.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

-----on TV last week how would that be done. She huffed and puffed through that. No one has actually told me. The Deputy might use his time when he comes back in afterwards to explain to the House the Sinn Féin plan to drop house prices to €300,000, how it would work and how long it would take. The Deputy might explain that.

Deputy Thomas Gould

We will build houses.

An Ceann Comhairle

A little order please.

Deputy Holly Cairns

Last year more than 21,000 Irish citizens were granted Australian working holiday visas. This was the highest recorded figure in 16 years. Even during the 2008 crash just 12,847 visas for Australia were issued. A figure of 21,000 last year when we have full employment in this country is extraordinary. It is something we should be talking about in this House because clearly it is no country for young people. Those young people are now voting with their feet. Many of them do not want to leave but they feel they have no other choice if they do not want to spend their entire 20s and 30s, even into their 40s, living in their childhood bedrooms while their life is passing them by.

Increasingly people just have no hope for their housing prospects in Ireland. Rents have doubled in the past decade and young people simply cannot afford them. Record house prices mean that dreams of home ownership are long gone. Housing is more than an investment vehicle and it is about more than bricks and mortar. It is about independence, security, relationships and starting a family. It is the foundation for so much that is central to a happy life but that foundation is missing now for an entire generation.

How does the Minister think it feels for those people and for their parents when the Minister's approach is tried, tested and has failed, and yet he consistently comes in here in a state of denial making promises that are later broken and setting targets that are not met? We have now heard promises for years that things will get better. Simultaneously, we are seeing reports that an investment fund bought up 85% of the homes in a Dublin housing estate, which is just the latest example that things are not changing.

The flippant attitude of the Minister and his Government towards this speaks volumes. Government Deputies have spent the last week down-playing it and the Minister has just done the same here. The fact that the Minister has not bothered to close such a gaping loophole tells us all we need to know about where his priorities lie. It is not with vulnerable renters or struggling first-time buyers who obviously cannot compete with €800 million funds that are cashing in on a crisis. Those 46 homes in Dublin are now on the rental market for €3,125 per month. This is rent of €37,500 a year. This is why 21,000 young people left this country to go to Australia last year. This is why it is obvious to everyone that the Minister's approach is not working. This is why people have run out of hope.

It is my belief that the only thing that will change this is a change of Government but perhaps the Minister will prove us wrong. The Minister's 10% stamp duty on the bulk purchase of homes is clearly no disincentive to funds that are making super profits from a housing crisis. Sinn Féin's proposal to increase it to 17% will not work either. It is too weak. My colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has put down an amendment to increase stamp duty on bulk purchase homes to 200%. It is an effective ban. We need an effective ban on the bulk purchase of homes. Will the Minister do that and make some effort to at least deal with that low-hanging fruit?

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I must first reject the Deputy's assertion that in any way, shape or form we deal with housing in a flippant way. We certainly do not. We are very serious about it. This Government is investing more than any previous Government has in housing. We brought forward measures to help in housing. I would also say to the Deputy that while people do travel perhaps the Deputy has read about the housing situation in Australia and the cost of housing and rents in Australia. It is far worse than here. Some 30,000 Irish citizens came back last year as well, which the Deputy neglected to say. Measures we brought forward such as the Affordable Housing Act actually legislated for cost rental. With cost rental we now have thousands of tenancies approved. Cost rental did not exist here and now we have State-backed affordable rents for working people. I remind the Deputy that her party opposed the Affordable Housing Act and voted against it. They voted against that legislation which established the affordable housing fund. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan will be aware of this because in the Fingal area his party also opposed at every given stage one of the largest affordable social housing developments in the country of 1,200 homes in Donabate, 253 of which were social-----

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

That is not true. The Minister is misleading the Dáil. We wanted them all to be affordable homes.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

-----and private homes as well.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

That is not true. We wanted them all to be affordable.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Then the Social Democrats also say they want us to build on State land. We are building on State land.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

Building private homes.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

When we brought forward the Land Development Agency Act what did the Social Democrats do? They voted against that as well. They voted against the Affordable Housing Act. They voted against the Land Development Agency Act.

Consider the first-time buyers that the Social Democrats purport to want to represent. They opposed the help-to-buy grant, they opposed the first home scheme-----

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

Will the Minister deal with the question?

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

We are bringing forward measures that are actually working and it takes time to turn housing around. Consider where we are with completions. Since we have taken over and since this coalition has come into government, by the end of 2023 we had built more than 100,000 new homes in this country. There are still stresses and demands there, unquestionably, and that is why we need to increase supply across all tenures. This is why last year we built more new social homes than Ireland has done in 50 years and affordable homes for the first time in a generation.

With regard to renters, cost rental is taking hold now. We now have cost-rental apartment developments right across this country. I have met those tenants and have met people who have actually been able to get safe and secure tenancies at a minimum of 25% below market. That is working but the Social Democrats have opposed every single measure and every single piece of legislation that has come in here-----

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

The Government opposed our amendments to improve it.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

The voting record speaks for itself. I still await the Social Democrats' housing policy or housing plan as to what they would do differently.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

There is the proposal to increase the bulk buy stamp duty.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

The reality is that we back first-time buyers and we back renters. We brought in the renters' tax credit as well to help defray the costs there. The rental market is far from perfect. I know that.

On bulk purchase the Deputies will also know - as I have explained to Deputy Doherty earlier - that we have changed the planning law from May 2021. More than 40,000 homes now have the owner-occupier guarantee in place. That is there. It is a legacy issue that about 1% of properties have been purchased in that way and the 10% surcharge applies to those. I said already in response to Deputy Doherty that this rate should be reviewed and will be reviewed but let us put it in context as well; it is less than 1% of property transactions.

Deputy Holly Cairns

The Minister's defence is, quite frankly, pathetic. All he does is come in here and mislead the Dáil about housing objections. He knows that what he said is not true.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Hear, hear.

Deputy Holly Cairns

It says a lot about the absence of a real defence on this.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

The record shows.

Deputy Holly Cairns

The Minister tries to bamboozle people with figures when he comes in with his replies. Here is a figure: the Minister promised 55,000 affordable homes in 2023. He delivered 4% of that by October.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Is Deputy Cairns saying 54,000 affordable homes in one year?

Deputy Holly Cairns

That is what the promise was. The Minister comes in here and sets targets but does not meet them.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

It was 30,000 houses in total.

Deputy Holly Cairns

The Minister speaks about putting things in context and the reality of how long it takes to build homes. Everyone recognises that it takes time to address this. We have had 12 years of Fine Gael in government trying to address this and it is simply not working. The Minister says we are making no suggestions. I just made a suggestion to try to stamp out the bulk buying of homes. We need an effective ban. There is a suggestion. Other low-hanging fruit include tackling vacancy. At a time when house price inflation was 10%, the Minister introduced a 0.3% tax on vacancy. That is feigning an attempt to address vacancy. He is feigning an attempt to stamp out the bulk buying of homes. These are two suggestions. They are low-hanging fruit and the Minister can do that immediately. Will he do it?

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Everything I have stated here in the House is correct in relation to the Social Democrats' approach to housing.

Deputy Gary Gannon

We know your own approach to housing.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Tell me one thing I said that is incorrect. You cannot do so because what I have stated is fact.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

We supported 1,200 affordable homes in Donabate.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

The reality is that we have brought changes into planning to ensure the owner-occupier guarantee is there.

Deputy Holly Cairns

Please answer the question.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

That is in place. More than 40,000 homes have that condition in place. There are legacy issues with planning permission granted before this. I do not like to see the sale of family homes to vulture funds either. This is what I said in response to Deputy Doherty and I have already said to Deputy Cairns that the rate will be reviewed. I intend to have discussions with the Minister for Finance in this regard. We have to put it in context also. Deputy Cairns cannot catastrophise everything, particular when she comes in here and does not have any policies herself. Her party has not come forward with any suggestions on housing delivery.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

You do not listen.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

With regard to the 54,000 figure, our target last year was 29,000 new homes. We will exceed that and Deputy Cairns will see this later this month or in early February. We will exceed it substantially. For the second year of Housing for All, we will exceed our targets and we will deliver more than 100,000 new homes. We know we need to do a lot more and we are determined to do it.

Deputy Michael McNamara

In 2023, 3,285 people presented at Dublin Airport without valid travel documents. In 2022, the figure was 4,968. Under section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004, it is an offence to embark in Ireland without valid travel documents. This appears to me to be a strict liability offence. It does not really matter what someone's intention is or what the reasons are, it is an offence. If the window flies off a Boeing 737 and a passport gets sucked out, it is still an offence. It may go towards the sentence someone receives but it is still an offence punishable by up to 12 months in prison and arrestable without a warrant.

To date, one person was prosecuted in 2022. It seems this is an offence that is not being prosecuted in Ireland, for whatever reason. What I want to know from the Minister is why. We are constantly told we have a rules-based approach, and we do in some respects. Sometimes rules are applied and sometimes they are not. It is not clear sometimes why they are being applied and why they are not. I want to know why this particular offence is not being prosecuted in Ireland. It is leading to considerable disquiet. It brings the law into disrepute if there is a provision on the Statute Book that is either not prosecuted or prosecutable. I want to know what the story is with this. Not that long ago, a statute law revision was done to take off the Statute Book various provisions going back hundreds of years that were not being used. This is relatively recent legislation. It is section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004. Dublin Airport is in the Minister's constituency and, if not, it is very close to it. All of these people presented at Dublin Airport. People may present elsewhere but certainly Dublin Airport is getting most attention in this regard.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

We have a rules-based system and those rules need to be enforced. There is no question about that. I have seen the reports on those arriving at Dublin Airport without travel documents. We must remember that many people who are arriving and seeking protection are fleeing persecution. I know Deputy McNamara would agree that as a country we have been welcoming and we should continue to be so. In some instances, people have very valid reasons for not having travel documents. People are fleeing countries where passports or travel documents cannot be issued. We must be aware of that. Where people seek asylum for false reasons, it deserves to be prosecuted. There is no question of that.

There has been additional training for airline staff for when people present without documentation. We have a rules-based system in Ireland. We must ensure as a State that while we are seeing a continued increase in the number of people wanting to live here and seeking asylum here, we make sure the supports are in place for them and that supports are in place for the communities who host them. I commend the communities throughout the country who, in a very short space of time, have been able to accommodate 100,000 people. Many new people will set down roots here. Their families are coming here. They are getting a welcome. Very recently, we have seen some awful situations, whereby accommodation centres and places identified for accommodation have been torched. That must be roundly condemned. It is atrocious criminal behaviour that has no place in this country.

To get back to Deputy McNamara's specific point on the law and immigration legislation, it is clear with regard to travel documentation that where someone is found to be breaking the law, they should be prosecuted and they will be. I do not have the numbers that have been prosecuted under the provisions of the Act.

Deputy Michael McNamara

I can tell the Minister that it is none.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

It is certainly something I can raise with the Minister for Justice. This has been discussed at Cabinet and Government level and among our parties to make sure we have a fair system for people who come to the country. We issue approximately 60,000 work permits a year for people who choose this country as a place to live. One would not believe this is the case from listening to the previous speaker. Many thousands of people do. Many thousands of Irish people come back here. Many people from other countries want to come and live here.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

That is a complete misrepresentation.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I am responding to Deputy McNamara, if the Deputy does not mind. Regarding the number of prosecutions, Deputy McNamara said there have been zero. This is something I will raise with the Minister for Justice. We have ensured that airline and immigration staff are properly and appropriately trained to deal with people coming in who are trying to get around the laws that are in place. The claims of the vast majority of people seeking asylum and protection here will be processed expeditiously and efficiently. Those who can stay should stay and should get a welcome in the country.

Deputy Michael McNamara

The Minister is conflating two slightly different things. One is a requirement to have a passport when embarking in the State and the other is the right to claim asylum. I am not saying that those who arrive without a passport do not have the right to claim asylum. They do. However, they are still subject to the laws of the land while claiming asylum, including the requirement to present a passport on arrival. It certainly is the case that millions of people throughout the world flee countries without passports but they do not get on a flight to Dublin Airport without a passport. We all know that. My question is not why people are allowed to claim asylum. Of course people are allowed to claim asylum. It is our international obligation. My question is why are people who are in breach of a strict liability offence not being prosecuted in the State? Who is giving the order not to do so? Is it coming from senior Garda management, the Garda National Immigration Bureau, GNIB, or the Government? The law is not being applied. This brings the law into disrepute at some point. The question is not why people are allowed to claim asylum. I know why they are allowed to claim asylum. We have an international obligation and as decent human beings, we have a requirement to allow people to claim asylum. Why are people not being prosecuted for presenting at Dublin Airport without valid identity documents? That is my question and I would like an answer.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I understand the question. All of us know Dublin Airport well. Deputy McNamara knows with regard to anyone who comes in without travel documents that there are GNIB officers and immigration officers who interview each of these individuals. Nobody walks straight into the country. They are interviewed. There can be valid reasons, as Deputy McNamara has also said, as to why people would not have travel documents. At the point of exiting the country, one would expect that if they are travelling from another country, they would have travel documents to get on the flight in the first instance. There can be security or personal reasons that people would not have that documentation when they arrive in Dublin. I do not have a specific answer as to why. I am sure there is no direction to say there should be no prosecutions in this regard.

Detailed interviews are held with people when they arrive in our ports and in Dublin Airport not just seeking asylum but without travel documentation. Deportations happen in Ireland too. The Deputy is aware of that as well.

Deputy Michael McNamara

There were 13 last year.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

What I am saying is that we have a rules-based system. Those rules need to be and are being implemented.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Minister.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I do not have the up-to-date detail on prosecutions under that Act, but I will certainly get a response for Deputy McNamara.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I raise with the Minister the issue of planning permission and planning guidelines for log cabins, modular homes and mobile homes. We are all well aware of the housing crisis, which the Minister has been addressing, and we are all talking about it. There is a concerning situation in the case of people who have modular homes or a mobile home. I have previously asked for a ten-year moratorium during this crisis. There is strong enforcement by local authorities of planning policy against log cabins and temporary dwellings. I am aware of at least a dozen cases in south Tipperary where people are being turfed out, brought to court and prosecuted for putting up mobile homes or extended log cabins on their own site. I am not talking about reckless planning. These homes are carefully constructed. These modular buildings are now very safe and comfortable. Will the Minister amend the guidelines? It is his bailiwick. The Government could easily issue guidelines on rural planning. We are waiting for them as they have not been changed in 20 years. We are now told that the Green Party is insisting that will not happen. While the outdated guidelines for rural planning remain the same, a house will not be built in rural Ireland for a farmer's son or daughter or for anybody else either. That is a shocking scenario that the tail is wagging the dog to that extent. I call on the Minister to publish the new statutory rural planning guidelines and to include log cabins within them. That could be done with the simple stroke of a pen. I also call on him to sign an emergency ministerial order, a statutory instrument, to relax the planning laws for log cabins and to accept them as a viable solution to the housing crisis.

I am aware of a gentleman, Sean Meehan, who is 66 years of age. He has given me permission to use his name here. Following a marriage separation, he bought 5 acres of land and built a log cabin on it. Tipperary County Council has brought him to court four times. He was told by the judge ten days before Christmas to have his bag packed the next time as he has been sentenced to four months in prison if he does not remove the log cabin. He has nowhere to go. Tipperary County Council does not have anything to give him and it has not approved his application for housing. He is in a desperate situation. Let us just imagine that. He is an Irish citizen. All his people are buried within a mile of him up the road. He was born and reared in the townland of Loughkent and Woodenstown. He has a comfortable house there on his own site, with his dog and cats. Now, he is facing prison or sleeping under the Main Guard in Clonmel when he comes out of prison. That is a bonkers situation.

I am not asking for planning laws to be recklessly abandoned but the Minister could at least introduce a moratorium. He will not publish the long-promised planning guidelines, which was a commitment in the Government manifesto. The Green Party will not allow it to do so. This man and many more like him – there are 12 others – are being prosecuted by the council. The council has enough to do to find homes for people. We should support people where they have the will and the way in the sense of having a few pounds together to do this. I have been in many log cabins. They are lovely comfortable homes. They are connected to their own sewerage and water systems. They are not interfering aesthetically with the scenery or anything else, yet they are being prosecuted. Can we believe it in this day and age? They are being prosecuted. As Deputy McNamara said, the Government cannot prosecute people arriving here illegally. This is a shameful treatment of Irish citizens, in this case, Sean Meehan. The Minister sits idly by although he could change the guidelines at the stroke of a pen and introduce a statutory instrument so as to ensure that people who try to house themselves are not made into criminals.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I believe in rural housing. Last year, more than 5,000 one-off homes were built in rural areas, so people do get planning permission for rural homes. We also believe in ensuring that our towns and villages are rejuvenated. That is why we have had more than 7,000 applications for the vacancy grant, whereby people can get €70,000 to bring vacant and derelict homes back into use.

Specifically in regard to demountable properties or log cabins, people can seek planning permission for those type of dwellings as well.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

The guidelines do not allow them.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

The Deputy should let me answer the question.

An Ceann Comhairle

Please let the Minister respond.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I have two and a half minutes left to respond. If the Deputy keeps quiet, I will try to answer his question, specifically about Tipperary. People can apply for planning permission for that type of dwelling. That is allowed.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

They never get it.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Deputy McGrath is not looking for a blanket moratorium. We must have a planning system and planning rules in place. A number of cases have been brought to the Department's attention specifically in regard to Tipperary. Tipperary County Council has been asked to look at existing dwellings that are in place and to review the situation there. A review is being carried out in that regard to see if there are ways that we can ensure there is some type of standard for these types of properties. Every back garden in the country cannot have a log cabin. We cannot just set aside planning law for that. I am aware that enforcement orders have been issued by local authorities to people who have been living in these dwellings for many years. In many instances, they have been issued because complaints have been received by the planning authority from other residents in the area. I assure the Deputy that Tipperary County Council has not gone out looking for these dwellings. The enforcement action has been taken on the basis of complaints received. I wrote recently to the chief executive of Tipperary County Council when some of these cases were brought to my attention. I have asked him and his team to review the situation.

The rural planning guidelines are at a very advanced stage of finality. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, is dealing with that matter. I expect the guidelines to be published very soon. They are areas that can be looked at as part of that process. It is important to note that many of the enforcement orders that have been taken have been on the basis of complaints received by planning authorities from other residents in those areas. It is not the case that the local authority has sought to issue these orders with no complaints having been received at all.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

From Whitelands Cross right up to Glenagat Cross where Dan Breen was married in a cow house, as his wedding took place in troubled times, every resident on the road signed a petition supporting Sean Meehan to be allowed to live in his home and on his site. The Minister is totally wrong there.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil promised at the last election that the rural planning guidelines would be changed but then they did a grubby deal with the Green Party and that promise went out the window. This political promise on changing the guidelines has been broken.

The Minister is also wrong in saying that planning can be obtained for these dwellings. We have umpteen cases where they cannot and will not be because the guidelines do not allow the planners to proceed. The Minister will not publish the new guidelines and although the planners might want to allow these dwellings, they cannot do so under the current guidelines. He said the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, is going to introduce them. When will that be? Will it be after the Green Party is out of government and long gone? The Government does not have the will to change. Imagine bringing a 66-year old man to court four times. He is also faced with spending four months in prison if he does not remove the log cabin. If he does not remove it, the council will hire someone to remove it and he will have to pay for it. Let us just think about that. At this time, we see people trying to sleep in tents all over the country in towns and everywhere else.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

This man has housed himself. I am dealing with 12 more people like him who have housed themselves. They are not looking for anything off the council. They just want to be left alone. The Minister should do his job as part of the Government but he is not doing it.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I cannot respond to specific cases. As Minister with responsibility for planning, I will not do that.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

There are no objections.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I am not referring specifically to that case. I have already answered on instances that have been raised specifically in Tipperary. I and my officials have engaged with Tipperary County Council. The rural planning guidelines will be published shortly. A lot of work has been undertaken in that regard. The guidelines have not been updated since 2011. The facts are borne out as well that in the last full year for which we have the figures, 2022, some 5,000 rural homes were built and over 5,000 permissions were granted. It is simply not true to say that planning permission is not granted in rural areas. It is not borne out by the facts.