Investment Funds Trading in the Residential Property Market: Motion [Private Members]

Deputy Pearse Doherty

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that:

— the housing crisis continues to spiral out of control;

— residential property prices nationally have increased by 28 per cent since this Government took office;

— residential property prices in Dublin have increased by 21 per cent since this Government took office;

— high rents and high residential property prices are making it increasingly difficult for workers and families to purchase and own their own home;

— the recent bulk purchase of 46 homes aimed at individual buyers in Belcamp Manor, Dublin by an investment fund at the expense of individual home buyers is the latest in a series of bulk purchases by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers; and

— Government policies have facilitated and incentivised the displacement of struggling home buyers by investment funds in the housing market;

further notes that:

— Sinn Féin has called for a higher rate of stamp duty to be applied to the purchase of homes by investment funds to end this unacceptable practice through:

— amendments to the Finance Act; and

— a Private Members' Motion introduced on 18th May, 2021, which the Government rejected;

— the Government was warned by Sinn Féin that belated measures introduced in May 2021 would be insufficient to end this unacceptable practice; and

— the Government is responsible for the continued bulk purchase by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers, with 630 such homes purchased by investment funds between May 2021 and March 2023 at the expense of individual home buyers;

concludes that the Government, comprising of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, is a government promoting the interests of developers, landlords and investment funds at the expense of struggling home buyers; and

calls on the Government to introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of residential property by investment funds at a minimum rate of 17 per cent.

The number of homes that were snapped up by vulture funds last year alone is 623. These are homes that should have been available to struggling families who want to get on to the property ladder and put a roof over their heads and who want to have that forever home. The number of homes that have been bought up by vulture funds since the Government told us it had resolved this issue in 2021 is 1,025. It did not resolve it, however. We told the Government at the time that its policy would not work and that it was designed to fail.

In May 2020, one of the leading wealth advisory firms in the State issued a paper to potential investors on the Irish housing market. It told potential investors that: "The current high level of house prices and rents in Ireland’s residential property market have been driven in a significant way by the Government’s housing policy with favourable policies attracting institutional investors in the market." The firm concluded that "the current housing policy has benefited both institutions and developers at the expense of individual buyers." That was the assessment not of Sinn Féin, not of this party, but one of the leading wealth advisory firms in the State. It correctly described a housing system that is stacked against renters and struggling homebuyers by this Government. The game is rigged, with renters and struggling homebuyers the losers. For years, we in Sinn Féin have been calling for immediate measures to support homebuyers and stop the snapping up of homes by investment funds.

Nearly three years ago, there was public outrage when an investment fund attempted to snap up 135 homes in a new housing estate in Mullen Park, Maynooth, County Kildare. The previous month, 112 homes in Hollystown, Dublin 15 were bought up by a vulture fund - an entire development. These bulk purchases were not by accident. They were part of a wider trend, with investment funds moving in to bulk purchase thousands of family homes that should be available to workers and families desperate to purchase a home, facilitated and encouraged by Government policy.

It is another symptom, if we needed another example, of a housing crisis under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is a housing crisis that has punished renters and an entire generation locked out of homeownership. These events caused public outrage and a demand for action. As struggling first-time buyers scrimped and saved to build up their deposits, they were no match whatsoever for the institutional investment funds against which they had been forced to compete with the means and tax advantages to snap up homes from under their very noses.

For years, Sinn Féin has been raising these very issues. We have tabled amendments. We have made proposals to tackle this issue and stop this practice to tip the scales decisively in favour of struggling homebuyers. Time and time again, however, the Government opposed our amendments and rejected our proposals. As a result of the public outrage and political pressure following the events of 2021, the Government was forced to perform a U-turn and address this unacceptable practice. However, its response was to pay lip service to the problem and design a solution that was doomed to fail. A new tax was introduced to give the appearance of action. As I warned in the Dáil back in 2021, however, the Minister set a stamp duty charge so low that it cannot act as an effective deterrent. Apartments were not even included in the new tax despite warnings from a senior civil servant, which I received in correspondence under freedom of information, who said that "by having no extra stamp duty on bulk purchases of apartments you could potentially drive the individual home purchaser out of that market." Again my party submitted amendments to introduce a higher and punitive tax to stop this practice and again, our proposals were not heeded. Where has this left us today? It has left us in a place where workers and families who are so desperate and who are struggling to buy their own homes are being priced out of it by vulture funds.

Last week, we learned that an investment fund had snapped up 85% of new homes in a development in Balgriffin, Dublin 13. These are homes that should have been made available to struggling first-time buyers but instead they have been bulk purchased by an investment fund that will rent them out at an extortionate price in excess of €3,000. It is a slap in the face for workers and families in that area and beyond who hoped that this new development would be their chance to finally secure a place to call home. What happened in Belcamp Manor, Balgriffin was not an isolated incident. The figures released to me today by the Minister for Finance show that the Government is fully aware that this is happening. What happened on Belcamp Manor estate is happening every month. There have been, on average, 40 homes bought up by vulture funds every month since the Government introduced these measures in 2021. There was a 71% increase last year in the number of homes that vulture funds have been buying up primarily in this city. What is the Government planning to do tonight? It is planning to once again vote against Sinn Féin's proposal that will tip the scales against the vulture funds and actually tip them in favour of struggling families who want to purchase their own homes.

The Minister of State has a choice here, the same way he had a choice in 2020 when we tabled amendments to the Finance Bill and the same way he had a choice in 2021 after the public outcry at what was happening in Maynooth, to actually stop this practice. Now, the Government has been exposed. The Taoiseach stood up and said that we need to look into how this is happening. He knows fine well why it is happening. The Department of Finance told the Minister for Finance that the measures were not working. It said at that time that 630 homes had been bought up by vulture funds since 2021.

We now know that it is more than 1,200 homes. Sinn Féin has proposals before the Dáil tonight that will stamp out vulture funds buying up family homes from under the noses of ordinary workers and families.

It is time for Fine Gael to stop out rolling out the red carpet to the vulture funds. It is time for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, for the first time, to stand up for the interests of ordinary workers and families who want to purchase their own homes.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Not too long ago, my constituency colleague Deputy Ward and I met with approximately one third of the school principals in our constituency. Those people represent 20 separate schools of all types of patronage and children of all ages. The purpose of the meeting was to ask the principals about they face. Every one of those principals stated that they had permanent contracted positions in their schools that they simply could not fill. A number of schools had as many as three contracted positions that they could not fill. Not only could they not get permanent teachers, they could not even get substitute teachers because of the difficulties with staffing. When we asked them to explain the single biggest problem when it comes to getting staff they said it was the cost of accommodation. It is simply impossible for young people to get either rental or purchase accommodation anywhere within commuting distance of the constituency of Dublin Mid-West. When we talk to gardaí, healthcare assistants and nurses, it is the same story. The simple reason is that after 12 years of Fine Gael in office, people cannot afford to rent or buy a home. House prices are higher than they have ever been before and they continue to rise. Rents are higher than they ever were before last year, and there has been the highest level of increases since Residential Tenancy Board records began. Worst of all, the Government's affordable housing targets are simply far too low. The Government is not meeting those targets. They are the worst targets to date.

Increasingly, we are seeing that the affordable homes that the Government is delivering are not affordable. In my constituency, there are affordable purchase homes under the Government's affordable purchase scheme with an all-in price to the buyer of €437,000. Only last week, the Land Development Agency announced new homes for Citywest, which is now in my constituency. The starter prices are: €1,400 a month for a one-bedroom home; €1,600 for a two-bedroom home; and almost €1,700 for a three-bedroom home. These amounts are higher than those being paid by renters in the area at present.

To add insult to injury, just as people thought that they were no longer competing with funds to buy homes, we see again, as Deputy Doherty has outlined, a fund buying homes in north County Dublin and not only overpaying and pushing up the price and preventing young people from purchasing but also charging €3,100 a month for three-bedroom homes in the suburbs. That is not a good way to run our housing system.

What I do not understand about the Government's position is this. In 2021 it stated that it wanted to stamp out this practice. It stated that it wanted to stop funds from block purchasing houses and duplexes out from under the noses of families. We told the Government the stamp duty rate was not sufficiently high. We told them it needed to be higher. Evidence has proven that. It does not matter if it is 1%, 2% or 3% of transactions. At a time of such limited supply, any home that is bought up by a fund that should have gone to an owner-occupier is one home too many.

I am genuinely surprised that the Government has not done the honest thing, which is to come in and say that it did not get it right. The Government did not set the rate high enough. Given that its objective in 2021 was allegedly in line with ours, which is to stamp out this practice, the Government should have said that now is the time to increase the rate. That would have been the honest thing to do. Instead, what the Government will do is refuse to make the change, homes will continue be sold to funds, they will charge extortionate rents on which they pay no tax on their rent roll or capital gains and this will continue to distort our housing market. I am not surprised that the Government has taken this decision. People out there desperate to own their own homes or pay affordable rents are watching. They know whose side the Government is clearly on.

Deputy Denise Mitchell

Vulture funds have been let run riot for years at the expense of potential homeowners who scrimp and save every penny they have in the hope of one day owning their own homes.

When we debated this issue in May 2021, the Government was warned that the measures it was bringing in were not close to being enough. The Government has always had an open ear for those who seek to make massive profits off the back of the housing crisis. Half-baked measures and half-baked policies are always the order of the day.

A couple living in Dublin who want to buy a standard three-bedroom house will have to be earning €127,000 even to be considered for a mortgage. Not only are people competing with each other, they are competing with international funds that have no interest in building communities. The only thing those funds want is to make a quick profit. A fund is buying up 46 of the 54 family homes in Belcamp Manor, which has caused outrage. To top it all off, those homes are on the rental market for €3,175 a month, which, the Minister of State may , I think, agree is an eye-watering amount.

People feel like they are playing a rigged game and that the Government is writing the rules in favour of the funds, which are only here to make a profit on the back of the housing crisis. This is all being done under the Minister of State's watch. Failed target after failed target, false promise after false promise - the people out there are sick of it. It is about time the Minister of State and the Government sort this madness out.

Deputy Matt Carthy

Well said.

Deputy Thomas Gould

No doubt the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, will list off all that the Government thinks it has done since it came to office and say how great it is and how we are turning the corner. My God, it must be the biggest corner of all time.

We see, in Belcamp Manor, 46 homes, or 85% of the homes there, bought by a vulture fund. Why are people surprised by this? It is a Fine Gael policy. Fine Gael brought this in. The mystery here is how Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have let Fine Gael get away with vulture funds riding roughshod over people, operating on a tax-free basis, doing what they want and buying up houses. To be fair, this is Fine Gael's policy. I am completely against it but I understand where Fine Gael is coming from. Fine Gael is pro-vulture funds. It is pro-cuckoo funds. We are pro-people. We are pro-ordinary workers and families. What is the Green Party and Fianna Fáil doing while Fine Gael is doing this to ordinary people?

I was contacted by a lady in Cork. She wanted to get the new vacant home grant that we hear so much about. Four months she was waiting to get a surveyor to come in because the Government has not given Cork City Council the resources to implement the plan relating to the grant.

Then we hear about delivery and what the Government is doing. I will give the Minister of State a hint of what it is doing. There are 1,150 homes that they have not added one block to since the Government came to office, and the Government talks about housing delivery. Houses are left to rot, remain half-built or are not even started. On Kilmore Road in Knocknaheeny, there are 24 homes that have remained half-built for five years under this Government's watch.

The Minister of State talks about all the stuff the Government is doing. I will tell him what the Government is doing. House prices in Cork are up €58,000 since it came to power. Now I am not sure about his sense of reality or that of the Government, but if the Minister of State asks any man or woman on the street who is saving for a mortgage or asks any couple or person who is trying to buy their own home, he will be informed that €58,000 might as well be the moon for them. That is what the Government's policies have done. Those in government are pro-vulture funds and pro-cuckoo funds and anti-ordinary people.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

Eight years ago, the CEO of IRES REIT, one of the big vulture funds, said, "We've never seen rental increases like this in any jurisdiction that we're aware of", before adding: "I truly feel bad for the Irish people." That CEO has long retired, but I wonder what he would say if he was looking at rents today. Does the Minister of State know what the average rent was when the former CEO expressed that regret for the Irish people? It was €986 per month.

In Galway, rents are more than €1,980 per month. Is it any wonder that vulture funds are trying to bulk purchase homes that are normally for families to buy? The real wonder is why the Government is allowing them to do this.

I am from Mervue, a proud community in Galway. A lot of people who live in Mervue want to stay in that community and they want to be able to raise their families there. The reality is that the Government's policy is not letting them do that. We can take, for example, the Crown Square site, which is just beside our estate. It was to deliver 345 apartments but Galwegians cannot purchase these because they are build to rent properties. The other reality is that many people will not be able to afford to rent them because we know the kind of rents these funds charge. These are the consequences of the Government's actions. Never in the economic history of this State have so few created so much misery for so many people. It is not just people in Galway city who are affected but it is people across the State.

It is also students who are truly impacted by this accommodation policy because it impacts student accommodation as well. I heard the Minister, Deputy Harris, making big announcements yesterday but the reality is that a lot of those were reannouncements. He was telling us about some new three-point plan he had when it was essentially the rehashing of an old plan. Not only that, but that old plan was also reliant on vulture funds. Not many people realise that vulture funds provide almost the same number of student beds as the universities. In Dublin they provide more than Dublin City University, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin combined. That is completely pricing people out of third level education.

Deputy Matt Carthy

In the first exchange of this Dáil session, a Minister told us the Government's housing policies were working. She said so never minding that rent costs are out of control or that house prices have hit record levels and are beyond the reach of the vast majority of workers and families, and never minding that Government is missing every one of its social and affordable housing targets, targets that were too low to begin with. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, went further than just repeating the absurdity that the Government's housing plan is working when it is clearly not; she went on to attack Sinn Féin for having the audacity to even suggest that homes should be affordable and there should be no surprise there.

When Fine Gael came into government in 2011, it had a chance to resolve housing for a generation or more. It could have built and bought houses for a fraction of today's cost and stimulated the economy when it badly needed it. It could have prevented the forced emigration of thousands of our young people, who instead ended up on building sites in Sydney, Toronto and every other corner of the world.

Fine Gael chose not to because it wanted house prices to rise in order to prioritise the profits of the banks. Fine Gael never wanted homes to be affordable, not then and clearly not now. It was Fine Gael which, remember, rolled out the red carpet for the vulture funds in the first place. It ensured that these funds would pay no capital gains tax and not a red cent on their obscene rental incomes. Then, when the inevitable housing crisis emerged, Fine Gael continued to prioritise inflating house prices, rather than providing homes for those who needed them. That is why a fund can swoop in and purchase 85%, 46 out of 55 homes, in a Dublin housing development. That is why that fund can put those homes up for rent, charging upwards of €3,000 per month.

That is why we need change. We need a different Government that will deliver affordable homes and that will be unapologetic in saying that we want affordable homes for those who need them. We need a Government that will end the steady stream of our young people being forced to leave Ireland because they cannot find a place they can afford in their country. It is time to prioritise people, namely Irish workers and families, ahead of foreign vulture funds.

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection (Deputy Neale Richmond)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"welcomes:

— the introduction of measures in 2021 to disincentivise the bulk purchasing of new homes by investment funds, including a higher 10 per cent stamp rate for certain bulk purchases of residential properties and planning guidelines to restrict the bulk purchase of houses for planning applications lodged following their introduction in May 2021;

— that since the introduction of these measures, the increased level of stamp duty has applied to less than 2 per cent of total new dwelling completions;

— the Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities 'Regulation of Commercial Institutional Investment in Housing' which aim to provide an 'owner-occupier' guarantee by ensuring that new 'own-door' houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors in a manner that causes the displacement of individual purchasers or social and affordable housing, including cost-rental;

— that at the end of Q4 2023, planning permissions which had the 'owner-occupier' guarantee attached amounted to 39,900 homes with an owner occupier guarantee since the guidelines were introduced in 2021; and

— that the Government is committed to ensuring that newly built houses are available to first time buyers and owner-occupiers and that the Government will continue to examine how this can be best achieved; and

acknowledges:

— the extensive range of measures included in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, building on the initiatives already undertaken and in progress, which will be brought forward to support individuals and families to access affordable housing;

— that for 2024, the Government set forward a record €5.1 billion budget for capital investment in housing;

— that Budget 2024 committed to deliver 9,300 new-build social homes and to make available 4,130 homes for affordable purchase and Cost Rental;

— the investment of over €136 million in the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, to unlock development in cities and towns around the country this year;

— the Government's commitment to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system;

— the extension of the Help to Buy Scheme until the end of 2025;

— the most comprehensive legislation dealing solely with affordability in the history of the State through the Affordable Housing Act 2021;

— the key elements of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, encompassing local authority-led affordable homes, Cost Rental units, the Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Scheme and expanding the provisions made under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000;

— the Land Development Agency Act 2021 as a seminal change in how we manage public land and strategic planning; and

— the implementation of the Housing for All: A New Housing Plan which sets out a comprehensive new vision for housing in Ireland, putting affordable home ownership back at its heart with ambitious multi-annual funding, as demonstrated through results including:

— 29,634 new homes commenced in the first 11 months of 2023, a 17.7 per cent increase on the same period in 2022;

— 8,452 new homes completed in Q3 of 2023, a 14.4 per cent increase on the same three months of 2022;

— a record 22,443 homes completed in the first nine months of 2023, an 8.9 per cent increase on the same period in 2022 and the highest number of completions recorded for the first three quarters of any year since the Central Statistics Office data series began in 2011;

— that 9,662 dwelling units were granted planning permission in Q3 2023, an increase of 43.3 per cent on Q3 2022; and

— the highest number of owner occupier homes being purchased in years despite ideological arguments from opposition parties.".

I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath. The Government is opposing this motion. However, I want it to be clear that the Government takes the issue of the bulk purchasing of property seriously. We are taking steps to address this and to maximise home ownership among individuals. Home ownership is, without a doubt, the top priority for this Government, with every Department playing a role in meeting our housing goals. The work we are putting into housing is bearing fruit.

It is important to note the fact that in housing, private individuals and households account for 80% of all housing transactions in the year prior to November 2023. Some 470 first-time buyers are buying their homes every week. We are building more homes, with almost 30,000 homes built in 2022 and a similar number for 2023 to be confirmed in the coming weeks. More importantly, we are helping people to buy homes. We introduced the first home shared equity scheme and we extended the help to buy scheme to the end of 2025, which, to date, has helped over 40,000 first-time buyers in the purchase of their homes. We have significantly ramped up the construction of social and affordable housing, with unprecedented funding from the Exchequer.

I want to be clear that the Government is acutely aware that the bulk purchase of homes deeply affects aspiring homeowners, first-time buyers, workers, families and individuals across the country. That is why we have already acted to address this behaviour. We responded swiftly, with the introduction of a wide range of actions in 2021 to provide a disincentive on the bulk purchase of homes. In particular a higher 10% rate of stamp duty was introduced by the Minister for Finance in 2021 on certain bulk purchases of residential properties. This was intended to discourage the purchase by institutional investors of all, or a significant proportion of, residential housing estates, thus denying first-time and other buyers an opportunity to purchase a home. The 10% rate is intended to provide a significant disincentive to this practice. Since the introduction of these measures the increased level of stamp duty has applied to less than 2% of total new dwelling completions. The standard rates of stamp duty applying on the acquisition of residential property are 1% on values up to €1 million and 2% on values exceeding €1 million. Stamp duty legislation provides for a higher 10% rate of duty to be charged on the acquisition of individual residential properties, where a person acquires at least ten such properties during any 12-month period. The 10% rate of stamp duty applies to houses and duplexes, but not to apartments. This rate was introduced by financial resolution on 19 May 2021 and is provided for by section 31E of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999. The 10% rate is intended to provide a significant disincentive to this practice.

In addition, the Government has committed to introducing a form of owner-occupier guarantee, which would enable local authorities to specify the proportion of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers. In support of this commitment, the Government introduced a series of measures in May 2021 designed to prohibit the bulk buying of houses and duplexes. This included the section 28 guidelines for planning authorities, Regulation of Commercial Institutional Investment in Housing, to planning authorities, which aimed to prevent multiple units being sold to a single buyer. The section 28 guidelines aim to provide an owner-occupier guarantee by ensuring that new own-door homes and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk purchased by institutional investors in a manner that causes the displacement of individual purchasers or social and affordable housing, including cost rental. The guidelines included requirements that a new form of condition be inserted in applicable new planning permissions. All houses would have to be made available for sale and for first occupation by separate, individual households for a period of years after completion of the home. The guidelines exempt housing to be provided for social or affordable purposes from this requirement. If, after a period of two years, the local authority is satisfied that, despite reasonable efforts, a market has not emerged, the condition will lapse. At the end of quarter 4 of 2023, planning permissions which had this condition attached amounted to 39,900 homes with an owner-occupier guarantee since the guidelines were introduced in 2021.

The Government has also responded to challenges in the housing market through Housing for All. Housing for All is the Government’s plan to boost the supply of housing to 2030, to increase availability and affordability of housing, and to create a sustainable housing system into the future. Its aim is for everyone to have access to housing to purchase or rent at an affordable price, built to a high standard, and located close to essential services. It sets forward a comprehensive vision for housing in Ireland which puts affordable home ownership first and foremost. The updated action plan for Housing for All was published on 14 November 2023 and sets out 30 priority actions to boost housing supply. Other priority actions include the development of revised affordable housing strategy, the ongoing viability issue and the promotion of innovation and capacity building in the construction sector.

This year €4.1 billion of Exchequer funding, supplemented by Land Development Agency funding and Housing Finance Agency lending, will be made available to deliver 9,300 new-build social homes and make 4,130 homes available for affordable purchase and cost rental. Through the plan’s record investment by the State in social and affordable housing, which will boost supply, supports for people to buy or rent affordable homes, as well as reforms of rental protections, planning, land management, social housing and other areas, we are addressing the challenges people are facing in accessing affordable housing to rent or buy.

With budget 2024, the Government additionally brought forward a record €5.1 billion budget for capital investment in housing. This includes €2.6 billion in Exchequer funding, €978 million in Land Development Agency funding and €1.5 billion in Housing Finance Agency funding.

The Government has consistently committed to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system through multi-annual funding via Housing for All. More homes are being built and bought than in a generation. The latest monthly data on the number of commencements notices shows that 3,087 new homes were received by Building Control Authorities in November 2023. This represents an increase of 29% on the number of new homes commenced in the same month of the previous year. A total of 21,634 homes were commenced in the first 11 months of 2023. This is a 17.7% increase on the same period last year.

The latest CSO data on planning permissions show that, nationally, 9,662 units were granted planning permission in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 43.3% on the third quarter of 2022. Residential planning permissions granted for the period January 2023 to September 2023 increased by 13% on the same period in 2022.

According to a recent report from Euroconstruct, an independent construction market forecasting network active in 19 European countries, construction output in Ireland is forecast to grow at the strongest rate among these countries. The report indicates that Irish construction output expanded by 3.2% in 2023 and will expand by 4.4% in 2024. It suggests that Ireland is bucking European trends, with total construction activity in Europe expected to fall by 1.7% in 2023 and 2.1% in 2024.

The Government is committed to ensuring that newly built houses are available to first-time buyers, owner-occupiers, workers and families, and we will continue to examine how this can be best achieved. Therefore, taking into consideration the results seen through Housing for All to date, the Government’s counter motion is proposed for consideration.

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

I have heard more full-blooded defences of the Government’s housing policy. It is no wonder because the Government knows it is very much on the wrong side of this issue. Weekly, if not daily, I talk to people who are trying to buy their first home. I am sure the Minister of State does so too. When you talk to them, noting the sacrifices they have to make and the work they have to do just to get a first home, your heart goes out to them. They have spreadsheets trying to figure out all their bills and they have shared notes. Over the course of the past few years, they have done the best they could to give themselves the best opportunity. They have worked hard, got qualifications and all the rest of it, but the possibility of having their own homes seems to move farther and farther away. It is absolutely galling for them to see the 46 houses in Belcamp Manor, or 85% of the development, taken away. For first-time buyers in that part of Dublin, the option was just stripped away and the carpet was taken from under their feet.

This has happened in other places as well. In the two years since the Government said it would deal with the miserable 10% that is making absolutely no difference, we have seen 630 homes bulk-bought. This is manifesting itself primarily in Dublin, but you can be sure the investors, the vulture funds, are looking at places in Cork. Renters there are paying €2,200, €2,400 and €2,500 for very ordinary three-bedroom houses. When the funds look at those rents, you can be sure they will look at Cork, in addition to Galway and Limerick.

The Government talks about being the party of home ownership and accuses us of being against it when every policy it has is driving prices up and stripping first-time buyers of their possibilities and dreams. The Minister of State needs to take this seriously. He needs to act and take the side of first-time buyers rather than the vulture funds.

Deputy Pauline Tully

The cost of purchasing a home has been pushed up further and further in recent years and has made it impossible for many workers and families, who have saved every euro they could, to buy their first home. A major contributor is the fact that investment funds have been allowed to come in and bulk-purchase homes from developers. Most recently, an investment fund bulk-purchased 85% of homes in a new housing development in Dublin. This is in no way an issue in Dublin alone. Investment funds have brought up many properties in Cavan town, in my constituency, and are renting them back to owners and families who could never compete with them to purchase the property themselves. It has left the workers and families at the mercy of these investment funds. In 2022, the residents in one apartment block owned by one of the funds received a written notice that their rents were set to be increased, in some cases by over 50%. Bulk-purchasing by investment funds has been happening for years and is a direct consequence of Government policy. The Government is responsible for enabling it. It has to stop because workers and families simply cannot compete with large investment funds and are being priced out. We need tax changes to ensure workers, families and struggling homebuyers are not priced or pushed out of the market by investment funds. Sinn Féin has been calling for this for years.

In 2021, in response to pressure from Sinn Féin, the Government introduced stamp duty of 10% on the bulk-purchase of homes by investment funds. However, this new rate excluded apartments. At the time, Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson, Pearse Doherty, warned that the Minister had set a stamp duty charge so low it could not act as an effective deterrent. This has proven to be the case. The Government has to get to grips with this. It must implement a more punitive tax of at least 17% of the purchase of homes, including apartments, by investment funds to stop this from happening.

Deputy Dessie Ellis

The latest housing scandal involves the bulk purchase of 85% of houses in Belcamp Manor. This is just another example of what is both an unacceptable practice and a kick in the teeth to those struggling to buy their own homes. The most recent homelessness figures show a record level of homelessness, with 13,500 people having been made homeless, over 4,000 of them children. Renters are paying exorbitant rents each month for often inadequate accommodation. A 2022 study showed that nearly 1 million people are at risk of poverty when housing costs are taken into consideration. The report shows that renters are most at risk, with almost 45% at risk of poverty after housing payments. For those in receipt of rent subsidy, such as the housing assistance payment, the poverty rate increases from 22.7% before the payment of rent to 55.9% after rent.

In this housing crisis, the intervention of vulture funds is impacting the housing market. In my constituency, a vulture fund that had previously purchased an entire housing estate in Mullen Park, Maynooth, purchased 297 apartments in Northwood, Santry. In Hampton Wood, Ballymun, a vulture fund bought up 125 apartments. Another vulture fund has paid over €200 million to acquire 435 apartments at Royal Canal Park, Ashtown. The Government is facilitating this by giving vulture funds tax incentives and preferential tax rates which will only encourage them to further bulk-buy properties to the detriment of those struggling to get on the property ladder. These sweetheart deals need to end, and this can be done by increasing the stamp duty to at least 17% to act as a deterrent to bulk-buying by such funds. It is just not sustainable to have vulture funds with deep pockets buying up houses, sometimes for up to €80,000 over the asking price. Affordable housing is becoming impossible and a dream for many.

Deputy Réada Cronin

We saw the recent arrival of the cuckoos and vultures in Belcamp Manor, Dublin, but in north Kildare we met them already. This was when they descended on Mullen Park, Maynooth, my hometown, and swooped off with homes for ambitious and talented local workers who had their hearts set on buying their first family home. The Government’s 10% stamp duty did not work then and has not fixed the problem since. There is something really galling and perverse about a hard-working couple in north Kildare having to compete with an international investment fund to buy their first home, having saved and done the overtime and perhaps moved back in with mum and dad to save money to put a deposit together. They compete with their hands tied behind them because of the Government. We have to stop the madness whereby workers on good salaries must compete with billion-euro funds for an average place to live in and call their own because there is a billionaire at the top of the queue wiping out the homes for everyone else. There is nothing right, good or modern about this. What is a drop in the ocean for the vultures and cuckoos that are buying rows of houses or the guts of an estate amounts to a whole life’s work by someone who wants to get their own home. All those looking for their own home have to look forward to is being rent slaves to the new rack-renters. It is not just the young who are feeling this because people in their 50s and 60s also face frightening uncertainty in keeping a roof over their heads. They are terrified. After working all their lives, maybe at the end of a relationship, the disposal of a joint property, the loss of a job or retirement could see them on the street.

The pain and fear for all generations are real because people know instinctively that a home is not just a profit commodity. It is the first and last bit of safety they have and a refuge from the world. The Minister of State began his speech by saying this Government supports home ownership. I have heard it said that this is not a debating society but it is not a stand-up place either.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

Since this Government came into office, we have seen property prices increase by a staggering 28%. There are several reasons for the increase in house prices and many of them relate to the failed housing policies enacted by this Government. In Limerick city, we have seen a year-on-year increase of almost 10%. If you are not fortunate enough to have access to the bank of mum and dad, it is extremely difficult to accumulate the money needed for a deposit while still paying rent. The supply of houses has fallen short of demand ramping up prices.

In many parts of the State, particularly Dublin, some of the supply is quickly snapped up by vulture funds. The recent purchase of 85% of the houses at Belcamp Manor by a vulture fund is evidence of a failure to support workers and families. The Government allows these investment funds to gobble up available supply with an average worker having little to no hope of competing.

What happened at Belcamp Manor is not some anomaly. It is a direct result of this Government's failure to take any meaningful action to stop the bulk purchase of properties. Analysis supplied to Deputy Doherty today showed that 623 properties were bought by 16 investors in 2023. The figure shows a 71% increase in the number of properties bought compared with 2022 when 395 properties were bought by 15 investors. It is a 233% increase on 2021, the year in which the surcharge tax was introduced. Figures from August 2023 show that 68% of people in their late 20s were living at home. We have to change the way we look at housing in this country because it is beyond the means of most working families.

Deputy Ged Nash

When I read last week's story by Killian Woods of the Business Post about the bulk purchase of new homes by an institutional investor at Belcamp Manor in north Dublin, it was gut-wrenching but it must have felt like a real punch in the guts for first-time buyers from the area who are anxious and are working hard to buy their forever home. The odds are stacked against them and here is what makes this situation even more obnoxious: it is their own Government that is deliberately making it so. The game is, frankly, rigged. It does not have to be this way but this is how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have organised it. That is what they have chosen to do. It is a deliberate policy and these are the effects.

As has been stated repeatedly this evening, in 2021, when it was revealed that an entire housing estate - a typical housing estate in a commuter belt area of the kind likely to be attractive to young couples - was bulk purchased by an investment fund, there was uproar in this House and across society. The Government responded with two initiatives in a blaze of publicity, because it was being said that something must be done and everybody was demanding change. The first change was a change to planning regulations while the second change, which is the one in question here, was the introduction of a 10% surcharge on the stamp duty charged on bulk purchases of ten or more homes excluding apartments in a 12-month period. I said at the debate that night in the convention centre that such a puny surcharge would be easily absorbed by funds with deep pockets. I said that what was needed was a punitive surcharge and not the puny one we got. I said the following:

The evidence from the markets over the past 24 hours is telling. If investors feared a 10% hike in stamp duty, they would take their money elsewhere. Instead, the valuation of I-RES REIT, for example, has gone up by in excess of 2% since last night. A rate of 10% is not punitive; it is a puny rate. It says to me that they are not deterred. They will take the move on the chin and absorb the cost.

That is exactly what they did and they are still coining it and laughing up their sleeves at us. They are still at it and the situation at Belcamp Manor is living proof of this. There will be more of this in the coming months unless the Government decides that this ends here and a penal surcharge is introduced to force a change in behaviour. New figures released today to Deputy Doherty really expose the problem. Far from stopping this objectionable behaviour, in terms of the initiative the Government took in 2021, if we can call it an initiative, the Government has succeeded in ensuring the practice has accelerated. There was a 71% increase in bulk purchases in 2023 compared with 2022.

At the time of the May 2021 debate, the Labour Party proposed a higher surcharge to discourage this behaviour. The Government came down in favour of 10%. I do not know why. It was a figure simply plucked out of the air. I asked the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, to set out his rationale for setting the stamp duty surcharge at 10% and to publish all of the advice. That did not happen and we can draw our own conclusions from that decision. It was a shot in the dark and a poor one at that. If you are confident in your measures and the decisions you are taking, you will share the rationale without fear or favour. I was never persuaded that 10% would work and now we know beyond all doubt that it simply has not worked.

On the night in question, the then Minister for Finance said "I believe the 10% rate is at a sufficient level to discourage institutional investors from participating in the market for houses and to direct available capital to apartment developments". We know his inadequate actions and intervention have failed abjectly. Bizarrely, apartments were exempted from coverage of the 10% stamp duty surcharge. In that debate, the then Minister was at pains to describe the importance of forward purchasing for the completion of city apartment developments, how he could not intervene and how, if he did, it would put at risk the required apartment developments in this city and other urban areas. However, for me, this exemption does not wash. It did not then and it does not now. The Labour Party is of the view that such a surcharge should also apply to apartments, which the House should not need reminding are homes too and are often the first choice and possibly the only available option financially for individuals and couples.

Since then, the Government has also gone on to subsidise certain kinds of apartment developers and entertain the approaches of certain kinds of developer lobbyists providing subsidies with few conditions attached for the completion of apartment complexes. Since the May 2021 debates, there have been minimal changes to the tax treatment of investment funds that are in the business of developing properties and renting housing. This really rankles with the innate sense of equity, fairness and fair play in Irish people. Funds do not pay tax on their rental income, which is extraordinary. It is extraordinary that this has continued to be permitted. Some of the biggest landlords in the State charging the highest rents in history are not required to pay a cent in corporation tax on their profits. If a firm were incorporated and organised in a different way - the normal way - it would pay tax on its rental income and corporation tax on its profits, so these funds have it every which way. Their deep pockets mean they can see off first-time buyers with the minimum of effort. They operate in a tax environment that was designed with them in mind, and whatever about the circumstances at the time, those circumstances have changed in recent years but minimal changes have been introduced in terms of the tax treatment of these funds.

The entity that bought the properties in Belcamp Manor and those that bought the rest of the more than 600 what I might call traditional newly built homes over the past short period know fine well that paying a puny 10% stamp duty surcharge on both purchases is A-okay. Why? It is because given the environment that has been created in this country, this is the kind of investment that is virtually risk free. House prices are still rising and they know that under this Government's housing plans, prices will remain high because the Government will stick to its guns on the anaemic and insufficient target of 30,000 new homes a year rather than admit that what is required is up to 50,000 if not closer to 60,000. Similarly, these funds and their advisers know that a lack of supply and the Government's unwillingness to properly intervene to regulate the rental market in a way that would be familiar to most Europeans means that a killing is to be made in Ireland.

Frankly, this whole saga is immoral. It is unethical and wrong and needs to change. There was the chance to change it in May 2021, the chance at least to further minimise the risk of what happened in Belcamp Manor recently from occurring, but it has happened and will continue to happen. The figures do not lie. The token 10% stamp duty was designed to fail, it was doomed to fail, and fail it did. Who did it fail most? First-time buyers, and that ought to be to this Government's eternal shame.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:

To insert the following after "arguments from opposition parties":

"calls on the Government to:

— introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge on the bulk purchase of homes by investment funds at a minimum rate of 100 per cent".

In 2022, as the figures released today show, 395 homes were bulk-purchased and last year 623 homes were bulk-purchased, with the funds paying this 10% stamp duty rate that the Government told us would get rid of this terrible practice of homes being snatched up by funds and out of the hands of individual buyers, who work so hard, put so much effort in and go through so much stress to get the money together to buy a home. They then have those opportunities snatched away from them with the support of this Government. It shows how utterly out of touch this Government is with people. It also shows that the 10% stamp duty measure, as we warned, has been ineffective and is not working. Given that the Government told us at that time that it was trying to stamp out this practice and that the 10% stamp duty would work - we said it would not - you would think, now that we have the hard evidence, not only the instance in Belcamp Manor but also the figures from recent years, that the Government would now be saying, "Yes, our 10% stamp duty measure was ineffective. We will raise it." We should be having a discussion on what level it should be raised to. Somehow, however, the Government is defending the practice of the bulk-purchasing of homes such as those at Belcamp Manor. It has nothing to say about changing this. That shows that the measures it took were not genuine and that what it said about them was not genuine but only a smokescreen, only an attempt to make it look like it was taking some action.

The situation in this country now is that investment funds have sweetheart tax treatment, pay virtually no tax and have some of the highest rents in Europe. At the same time, they provide some of the lowest levels of security to renters. The corollary of that is that, for individuals, we have the highest level of homelessness on record, which is connected to the very high rents these funds charge and the very low level of security for renters. We have declining homeownership - the lowest level in more than 50 years and still falling. We have record rents and renters paying exorbitant rents but some of the lowest levels of security for renters in Europe. I have said here many times before that the norm in most European countries, where people pay rents much lower than in Ireland, is that when you pay your rent, you do not get evicted. Here, renters pay some of the highest rents in Europe and can be evicted for all sorts of reasons.

The recent purchase of 46 homes at Belcamp Manor by Deutsche Bank's investment arm shows us three things. It shows us that homes have been turned into investment opportunities and commodities by Government policy. It shows us that the rents are so astronomically high that such funds can easily offset a 10% stamp duty and that it is not a deterrent to the bulk-purchasing of homes by funds. Using Belcamp Manor as an example, rents of €3,175 a month are being charged. That is more than €38,000 a year or, for the 46 homes, a staggering €1.75 million in rental income in one year. Looking at the stamp duty liability of 10%, clearly, from rents such as those, the fund will be able to get back what it spends on the stamp duty in not much more than a year. That shows clearly that it is not a deterrent. It is simply not an accident that under this Government homeownership levels are at their lowest in more than 50 years. It is pursuing policies that make it harder and harder for individuals to buy, and easier and easier for funds to keep buying up more and more housing.

Research, and analysis, has been carried out as to what role investment funds have played in recent years. The Government has continued to say, "We cannot take measures here. We need the investment from funds to providing new housing." The research shows, however, that half of what funds have bought up and now own is second-hand housing, taking that out of the supply for individual buyers and pushing up prices. That is what funds have been doing.

The Government has not told us tonight how it thinks individuals can possibly compete with €800 billion asset management funds. That is what the Deutsche Bank investment arm has - €800 billion at its disposal. How on earth is any individual meant to compete with such asset managers? Why has our Government, elected to represent us, the people in Ireland, allowed such a situation whereby homes are intended for individual buyers and given planning permission with that intention? I know this area intimately well. It is in my constituency. No one ever thought those homes would go to an investment fund. There was no indication of that as it went through the planning process and everything else - none at all. Why is our Government allowing that to happen? Why is the Government not focused relentlessly on what we need to do, which is the provision of more affordable homes for people to buy and rent? That is what the Government should be and could be doing.

As regards the amendments I have tabled, we in the Social Democrats want a ban on funds buying up homes. We believe an effective ban on buying up homes could be achieved by a 100% stamp duty rate targeted at funds buying up homes already built that otherwise would be available for individual buyers. We are very concerned about the Government's 10% stamp duty rate. While we support the spirit of the Sinn Féin motion, we believe the 17% stamp duty rate Sinn Féin proposes is very weak. A small increase in stamp duty on bulk purchase is simply not going to cut it. These €800 billion asset management funds will not blink twice at buying up homes that they can rent out at these kinds of lucrative rents with a 17% stamp duty. It will not put them off, and anything less than a 100% rate runs the risk simply of more and more homes continuing to be snatched up by funds.

It is worth noting that, as regards homeownership in Ireland, going back to 2006, the average age at which someone bought his or her first home was 29. Now the average age at which a person leaves home for the first time, moves out of his or her parents' home, is 28 and rising. Contrast that with countries such as Denmark, where the average age at which someone moves out of home is 20 to 21.

There are things the Government could and should be doing on affordable housing. Yes, we need the punitive stamp duty rate of 100%, but we also need the Government to take measures. The programme for Government, on housing, refers to what is being done in Vienna, but we do not see that happening here. There should be, for example, the introduction of zoning for affordable housing, like there is in Vienna, such that when lands, especially industrial or agricultural lands, are rezoned for housing, rather than the landowner making a massive uplift from that rezoning, instead there is a limit on the rent or the price per square metre that can be charged in respect of the homes on that land.

Zoning for affordable housing is something that works well in Vienna and could be done here. Of course, we need the implementation of the Kenny report. It is 50 years since it was published. The Government still is not doing that. There are solutions the Government could take to make housing much more affordable for people. There are good examples from other countries and good proposals that were made here 50 years ago which have still not been implemented. We need the Government to get serious about this and put an effective ban in place, with 100% stamp duty, to end the bulk purchase of homes by funds.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I thank Deputy Doherty and Sinn Féin for tabling this motion to highlight the malign influence of vulture funds and investment funds in helping to create, perpetuate and ever worsen the dire housing crisis that we face in this country, which is causing so much hardship for hundreds of thousands of people. It has contributed substantially to the record levels of homelessness and is locking out a whole generation of young working people from the possibility of ever owning their own home and crucifying them because they are forced into paying absolutely obscene rents.

Belcamp Manor really shows the bankruptcy of Government housing policy and the malign influence of these funds, and the Government's pathetic failure to do anything about that malign influence. They can buy up 85% of an estate, when the Government said it was going to deter them from doing that, and they are going to charge €3,000 per month to rent those properties. That is €36,000 a year in rent. That is probably more than 100% of the after-tax income of the average worker. That is what these vultures are going to charge people. It is disgusting and then they will not pay any tax on the rental income or the capital gains that they will make because of tax breaks designed by Fine Gael back in 2013 when Michael Noonan sat down with these people and asked what they wanted. What was the attitude of these people at the time? God, you should have known, because they were absolutely brazen about it.

Here are a couple of choice quotes from the time. Chris Flowers, CEO of a major investment fund, talked about the Irish market back then and said it was the gift that keeps on giving. He said, "lowlife grave dancers like me", which referred to these investment funds, would make a "tremendous fortune" out of the mess. Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, referred to how it was holding out from buying up at the beginning of the crash in Europe. He said, "we're basically waiting to see how beaten up people's psyches get". Then they sat down with Michael Noonan and he said they would not have to pay any tax on capital gains or their rent roll and that they could buy up all the property that NAMA had for nothing, then we ended up with the rents of €3,000 a month. It is absolutely disgusting.

The average house price in Dublin now is €430,000. In my area, the average house price is €630,000. Cherrywood, as I keep saying, is the biggest residential development in the country bar none, with infrastructure paid for by the public. The Minister of State, who knows where Cherrywood is, should go on daft.ie and look at the prices being charged. An 86 sq. m. duplex is €485,000. A terraced house of 87 sq. m. is €550,000. A four-bedroom house is €790,000. Average rents, if one tries to go up there, though you will probably not get it unless you are working for Google, since they will not even look at you if you try to rent in Cherrywood, are €2,200 for two bedrooms, or €2,400 to €3,000 for anything bigger like that. For a one bedroom place in Dún Laoghaire at the moment, you will not get anything for less than €1,700 a month. In fact, you are probably more likely to be paying €2,200. This is what these people have done. All of that property has been bought up by big investment funds. They sat on it, drip-fed the construction of it and then started to charge these kinds of prices, which nobody could afford, with extortionate rents.

I support increasing stamp duty but it is not enough. These funds should be banned. We do not need these funds. They should be told to get out of the country. They are wrecking the housing market. They are profiteering off the misery of ordinary people. The German Government has banned real estate investment trusts from buying up residential property. New Zealand has banned these foreign investment funds from buying houses. In the United States at the moment, there is legislation, though I am not sure it will be supported, but at least it shows there are people doing this in the United States. It is a Bill called the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act. Even at the heart of the capitalist beast, they are saying that these people need to go. If they were told to get out, that might drive down the price and value of property and indeed of rents. They should never have been brought in. It has created the disaster we are in. They should be told to get out.

We need a radical change in the entire model to move in the direction of places like Vienna, where 60% of all housing has to be social or affordable, or Helsinki, where all building land is in control of the state. If you want to build anything, you have to go to the state to say how it is going to contribute to the delivery of social and affordable housing, because if you are not going to contribute to that, you are not building. That is the approach we need. We need controls on these absolutely obscene rents and house prices, because it has failed. The incentivising, tax breaks and luring in of these funds has been a total disaster. The Government needs to acknowledge it and get them out.

Deputy Mick Barry

What is the way forward for Irish society? Is it housing for people or housing for profit? The Government's answer is clear. It is for housing for profit. If you want to see what that has led to, all you have to do is go to Belcamp Manor in Balgriffin in Dublin, where a vulture fund has snapped up 46 of the 54 new builds in that estate. The vulture fund is the DWS Group, an €800 billion German asset manager with majority control in the hands of Deutsche Bank. What rents will it charge in those 46 properties that it has spent €21.5 million purchasing? The average rent there is €3,175 per month, which is more than €38,000 and nearly €40,000 in rent per year. That is where the Government has led us to. We saw another example in recent days of where housing for profit brings us to. The Fianna Fáil benches are stuffed full of landlords. The Fine Gael benches are stuffed full of landlords. What do the landlords really think?

The Ditch has told us in the last 24 hours that it got access to three Facebook groups of three landlord groups, including Landlords Ireland, Advice and Support for Landlords, and Irish Property Investors. On those Facebook pages, one case was being discussed of a council which ordered some changes post an inspection, including changing the smoke alarm and changing carbon monoxide monitors.

Not one or two landlords, but many landlords said to ignore that advice, that the council would not get around to them, the second time around. One landlord asked who to allocate housing to. One landlord replied that a single mother at home all day will cause more wear and tear on the property than working professionals and to go for working professionals. That is what putting profit above people means. We need more social housing, much higher targets and they need to be delivered.

In Knocknaheeny in Cork, in phase 2 of the Knocknaheeny regeneration, there are 24 new homes at Kilmore Road, which are half built with no work done on them for an age. Construction has stopped. A protest has been called to take place this Saturday at 12 noon. I urge people in the area and on the north side of Cork to attend that protest. It is a disgrace. The work needs to restart. The council needs to be put under pressure and we need homes for people, not for profit.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

There are 9,409 adults and 4,105 children accessing emergency accommodation in Ireland right now. On average ten people a month are dying on the streets of Dublin and 60,000 people are currently on housing waiting lists. Eurostat has shown that rents have increased by 100% since Fine Gael came into power in 2011. Houses are literally out of reach and are only for the wealthiest at the moment. The average price of a three-bedroom house in the Minister of State's city, Dublin, is now more than €500,000. That is an incredible, distorted, dysfunctional housing market and significant damage is being done to families as a result.

The Government's target for building houses is only half what it should be. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, stated that we need to be building 60,000 houses a year. The social housing targets in the last while have been incredibly low. For the first nine months of last year, 2,642 new social housing units were built, shy of the target of 9,000 for the whole year. Some 2,000 affordable homes were delivered in the first three quarters of last year, far fewer than the 5,500 target. The Government has proven to be incompetent at delivering public infrastructure over and over again. Whether it is the national children's hospital, the flood defences in Midleton, metro north or the building of houses for people, this Government cannot do infrastructure. It just finds it impossible to deliver.

Planning is still a disaster. An Bord Pleanála is sending letters to builders stating that appeals have to wait 18 months in the planning applications system, before they will be decided upon, which is an incredible waste of time in a housing crisis. The Government has produced scheme after scheme to provide funds for vacant homes, but have made those schemes so difficult to access that it is virtually impossible for families to draw down those funds. One of the key strategies the Government has employed is to roll the red carpet out to institutional investors, cuckoo funds and vulture funds, to bulk buy homes. Many of these institutional vulture funds are from abroad and it is quite clear that many other European countries are preventing international vulture funds from coming in and buying up housing stock because of the damage it does to the markets. The truth of the matter is that when these vulture funds come into competition with first-time buyers, families and young couples, they have all the cards in their hands. They have access to far lower interest on capital from abroad. They have really deep pockets and the Government has given them significantly lower tax rates than it is charging the families who are competing for those homes. The system is stacked against first-time buyers and the Government has been the main group doing that stacking on top of the first-time buyers. It is a policy that came directly from Fine Gael, going back to Michael Noonan, to roll the red carpet out to these vulture funds and it continues to do damage to families.

Deputy Verona Murphy

In early December last year, RTÉ's "Prime Time Investigates" brought attention to the most heinous of crimes. Three building developers provided evidence of a criminal extortion racket. All credit is due to them and the reporter, Barry O'Kelly. The documentary featured covert recordings showing how these criminals, John and Micheál Callaghan, acted as representatives of a number of fake NGOs and made trumped-up objections to planning applications to extract money for the withdrawal of those complaints or objections.

The next day, the Taoiseach said that what these criminals were doing was illegal. The Ministers for housing and justice were advised to take action. The Attorney General said ample legal measures are in place under existing legislation and pointed to section 17 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, under which An Garda Síochána can investigate these criminals. An Bord Pleanála were to conduct a review of all the objections submitted by these criminal brothers, John and Micheál Callaghan. Despite the three developers making time to help RTÉ to pull the programme together in a great deed of public service and, following that programme, making individual complaints to An Garda Síochána, as each of the cases has a unique set of facts and all the efforts made, no one has been in touch with the developers. No one from An Garda Síochána or An Bord Pleanála has contacted them about the criminals and their criminal acts. I have heard on the grapevine that they may not be contacted and that An Garda Síochána and the DPP will sit on their hands. To be honest, I am asking what the Minister of State will do about it.

We need houses. That is all we talk about in this Chamber, day in and day out. It is the worst housing crisis ever. Allowing the criminal practice of extortion and racketeering to go unpunished, means many developments are not going ahead as developers have lost faith. These criminals, the Callaghan brothers, and their acts are costing the housing industry and the poor unfortunate purchaser a fortune and they are delaying the delivery of housing. It is entirely within the Government's control to stamp it out. The inaction of the Government means it is allowing it to continue. It does not instil confidence. Criminals, like the Callaghan brothers, receiving money and holding developers to ransom like in the days of the Wild West, comes at a huge cost to the people of Ireland who need homes. What actions will the Government take to stop this action and ensure sanctions on criminals such as the Callaghan brothers, because it has the same impact as the motion being discussed this evening?

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

Ireland used to have one of the highest rates of home ownership in the EU. Yet, despite reaching nearly full employment and economic growth, just 66% of housing is owner-occupied. Home ownership has collapsed particularly among younger generations and lower-income groups. Housing is consistently the number one issue of concern for my constituents in Louth and East Meath. Last week, the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, said that the Government had delivered more than 100,000 homes since 2020. Yet, the number of people living in emergency accommodation has continued to climb and according to the latest figures, more than 13,000 people are without a home. On top of that, the average rent has increased by 60% since 2015, despite a rent cap on existing tenancies, while house prices have risen by more than 3% in the past year.

This shift is home-ownership is hardly a surprise when you look at house prices, which are almost eight times the national average wage. Countless people are being locked out of buying a home because the issue is directly connected to the fact that most of the new-build housing supply is expensive, investor-funded build-to-rent, backed by the Government through tax breaks and incentives. The Housing for All plan is completely dependent on private markets and global vulture funds. Government policies have facilitated and incentivised the displacement of struggling home buyers by investment funds in the housing market. For example, the State agency set up in 2009 to take over bad property loans from the banks sold off a huge amount of land and large number of apartments at major discounts to global real-estate funds, and social housing schemes were developed for them. These vulture fund corporations are getting massive public funds, like the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, payments. This encapsulates the disaster of a for-profit market and the communities-driven approach to the housing crisis. This is why the crisis is getting worse day by day. The right to housing should come before the supposed right of vulture funds and others to maximise their profits. When it comes to corporate landlords we should take property into public ownership and turn it into public housing on the basis of affordable rent.

Proper resources and investment are required to deliver social and affordable houses to reduce the share of the rental market run on a for-profit basis. While I acknowledge that in recent years we have returned our public finances to surplus twice, resulting in the creation of the rainy day fund and the national reserve fund in budget 2024, attitudes of fiscal conservatism dominate which restrict investment in public housing even when the money is available.

Housing is our number one problem. We have a surplus. Yet, rather than investing in housing, we are paying down the national debt and pension funds. People are really struggling. Where is the justice? Ireland has huge numbers of vacant and derelict properties and available land. We have the wealth and finances to provide sufficient housing. We need councils to buy, build or acquire social and affordable houses. We need to fund the tenant in situ scheme and the cost-rental scheme. We play a central role in ensuring there is enough housing and that social housing needs are met. We must keep looking at ways to accelerate house building, which relates to capacity within the housing industry.

All people want is a roof over their heads. It is the number one problem in the country. People come to my constituency office on Mondays and Fridays to discuss this. Money is not the problem. The Government needs to build more houses and look after the people who need housing most of all.

Deputy Richard O'Donoghue

I got a note when I came into the House this evening from a man who said he has five sites in County Limerick with full planning permission. He has offered them to Limerick City and County Council numerous times but has heard nothing back. The Minister has stated councils are fully funded to facilitate the purchase of houses made available for social and affordable homes. The person to whom I refer is willing to build the houses if the council wants him to do so and give them back to the council at an agreed price before building starts. He is not a builder, but he said he would build houses in a town in Limerick which could house five people in affordable housing. The local authority has not contacted him, despite being contacted on numerous occasions.

This evening as I walked into the House, two people in my parish were refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála. They went through the planning process and were granted planning by the local authority but were told planning had been refused by An Bord Pleanála, having waited 14 months. They want to build on their own land. There are now two people who cannot build their own houses at no cost to the State. Five houses could be built in a town in Limerick to house five people, but the local authority is doing nothing about it.

This is not the first time I have spoken to local authorities about sites available for them to buy where developers could not afford to build but could build at a cost that could suit the council. They have not got back to anyone. We have a housing crisis. Why are local authorities not held accountable for not taking up these houses? What is going on? Is there no accountability to the Minister? Will the Minister look into this if I bring him these individual cases, in particular the five sites for affordable housing? They could be built at a cost that would be acceptable to the State. That is what we can do.

I am a block layer by trade. I have built a lot of houses for a lot of people, but I do not build houses anymore. The sites are there, but local authorities will not allow people to build houses to take people off the streets and put a roof over their heads. They are not accountable to Government. What is going on? I would like the Minister to intervene on this.

Deputy Michael Collins

Investment funds are increasingly buying up properties in Ireland, such as the recent purchase of 46 houses in Belcamp Manor in Dublin for more than €21.5 million. The Government's 10% stamp duty on bulk purchases introduced in 2021 has proved insufficient in curbing this practice. The motion proposes a higher rate of stamp duty on home purchases by investment funds. However, careful implementation is needed to avoid distorting the housing market and deterring other institutional investors. We in the Rural Independent Group call for better regulation of these funds as their profit-driven approach is exacerbating the housing crisis by driving up rents and making housing less affordable.

The problem we have throughout the country is the planning system. It leaves a lot to be desired. People from all over my constituency come to me every weekend or ring me to tell me they cannot get planning. Young people trying to start out in life on their own are not asking for any social housing. They are simply asking for the right to have planning permission. They get maps and there is very little consultation between them and the planners. They are told they cannot build because there are cluster developments. All farmers' sons and daughters are being prevented from building because the planners are coming up with different excuses.

Even though people want to work and live in their locality, people cannot get planning coming out on the N71 roadway. In one case, 200 cars can exit from a golf course on a fine day but an individual with one car - his partner has a second car - who wants to build a house has not been allowed to do so. On a wet day there might be nobody on that roadway. It is insane that genuine people's dreams, livelihoods and hopes are being destroyed by planners who have built it into county development plans that are now anti-county development plans. There is no development in a lot of county development plans. We have to look at zoned lands and load density.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, to be clear, county development plans are adopted by councillors. They might be written by planners, but they are adopted by councillors.

Deputy Michael Collins

Yes indeed. That is the case. The problem is councillors have little or no say in what is going on now.

An Ceann Comhairle

They have if they wanted to use it.

Deputy Michael Collins

Very little. It was weakening between 2014 and 2016. I had a hell of a job to push things through, but nowadays that happens less and less. If you fight for extra development in one area where it is needed, it will be taken from another area. These are the new tricks that have come into county development plans which are making it impossible for people who want to get going in life to do so. As I said, they are very much anti-development.

Land where housing is desperately needed is being zoned for low density. There is a desperate need for housing in Clonakilty and other areas. People who want to build beautiful homes are not being allowed to do so. They are only allowed to do so in a low-density situation. Building houses does not pay for them. There is crisis after crisis. There is scheme after scheme, but the criteria are set so high that no one can avail of them. People are losing their homes to banks and vulture funds. The system is built against the ordinary people.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I, too, am delighted to speak to the motion. The Ceann Comhairle commented on county development plans. He was in a county council and mé féin freisin. We had some hope. Now matters are obviously dictated by management. The planning and development agency and other agencies are overruling the decisions of councils. Power is being taken away from councils.

A video was sent to me by a 30-year-old Irishman called Cian who has worked on building sites. There is a GoFundMe page for an excellent documentary, but I do not know who made it. The man was in care when he was young and tried to get PPS numbers, but the system beat him. He has worked with a builder in Dublin who gave him a loan of a truck which he lived in for a couple of years. He was going to work on the bus hungry. People tried to give him things. He does not have a hope of getting a house. I urge everyone to watch it. It is a fabulous documentary. The man was able to and did work every day he could. He will continue to do so, but he has no hope of being recognised as an Irish citizen and a man who could get supports and buy his own home. That is why thousands of people are leaving and going to Australia. There is no hope.

I met a man on the picket line in Roscrea. His daughter came home at Christmas and told her mam and dad that she would be back to the town only for them because she has no hope of getting a house.

Corporate greed, including funds buying up homes, is shocking. We had the very same thing in Tipperary, where conglomerates bought up land. We are now offering €14 million for a 700-acre estate.

Now we have someone else fighting with the auctioneers in the High Court, with the big wigs across the river. He wants to give €19 million for it. My God, you would think they were talking about euro - €10 or €100 - but it is €4 million of a difference. We have no laws to stop this carry on. We have no land commission. Similarly, we have no rules to stop these big conglomerates coming in and buying up all the houses and buying up the land. We have the Land Development Agency and planning agencies. We have agencies with soft chairs inside them and a plaque on the wall outside, a plethora of staff and a CEO but they are useless, toothless and fruitless. Jobs for the boys. They are ineffectual and they have no impact for the people who want to build a house on their own land and who cannot get planning. They are having no impact for the people who are trying to develop houses. I go back to the focal scoir and the county development plan. It is in every town, including the Cahir town plan. This year in Tipperary zoned land was reduced by more than 60% on the insistence of the management and the Land Development Agency. Imagine a housing crisis with a figure of 14,000 idle. The biggest issue with the current county development plan, when it was being debated in the last two years, was dezoning land. What does that do only drive up the price of the land on which houses could be built on? We have a jumbled up system. It is not there to serve the people and it has failed badly. We blame the county council – I think Deputy Collins, Deputy O'Donoghue or some other Deputy did – but they are pushing paper up to the Parliament and six months later they are pushed down again. Then it goes to Carlow to that section and then to Dublin to another section. Round and round the merry-go-round and one of these days the wheels will fall off the wagon. Someone needs to take it by the scruff of the neck and sort out the log jams and blackguarding that is going on in the system. I did not even go near An Bord Pleanála and false objections. That is another area that should be tightened up.

An Ceann Comhairle

We should all of us here expect that responsibility should rest where it statutorily lies. If councillors have responsibility, which they have, then they should not concede to unelected people which they are doing on a regular basis.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

It is happening.

Deputy Joan Collins

I thank Deputy Doherty for tabling this Private Members' motion. The current housing strategy where we see more investment funds buying up blocks of new housing or huge build-to-rent developments is a clear example of how this Government’s policy on housing has been an unmitigated disaster for ordinary people. Faced with a generational housing crisis the only political will the Government has shown is keeping wed to the idea that no matter what the cost, the most important thing in our housing market is that the big developers, vulture funds and landlords get to keep their hands in the cookie jar. This is no accident. It is a political decision to continue to put profit at the heart of every solution the Government comes up with for one of the worst housing crisis this country has ever seen.

Time and again, the Government has shown that it represents the interests of profits and wealth and not ordinary working class people. There are people dying on our streets because they do not have a roof over their heads yet it is landlords, vulture funds and developers whom this Government chooses to prioritise in its housing policy. Whether it is bulk purchases, which this motion addresses, or CSO data shows that over 50% of homes built in the Dublin City Council area between 2018 and 2020 were build-to-rent, this is a housing crisis in which those with big money see massive growing profits and ordinary people see no end in sight.

Take one recent situation we know of in north county Dublin, Belcamp Manor, where 46 out of the 54 homes were bulk bought by a vulture fund. Now we know that nearly 40 homes every month are bulk bought even though the Government brought in legislation to try to stop that. It is going ahead because they are making lots of money doing it.

We need policies that are committed to providing secure, affordable homes to people, whether public or private. That starts with a massive public housing building campaign led by a State construction company. It requires real and enforced security of tenure and rights for tenants and it requires taking back power and profits from the giant landlords, developers and vulture funds so that we have a housing system that is designed for people to get homes and not for companies to make profits.

Finally, I want to put a question to the Minister of State. Recently, I have dealt with several constituents who are above the social housing income threshold but are below the income threshold for new LDA cost rental projects. For example, while the social housing threshold is €40,000 for a single person in both Dublin and Kildare, you need to earn over €46,525 for the Harpur Lane LDA cost-rental project in Leixlip or above €46,286 for the Parklands LDA cost-rental project in Citywest. The Housing for All cost-rental policy states it is targeted at middle income households with incomes above the social housing limits. The national average in 2022 was €41,824. How are these projects targeting middle income earners or those above the social housing threshold if an average worker cannot afford the cost of it? I want a response from the Minister of State on how the Government plans to respond to the gap the Government has created for people stuck below the threshold of a scheme that is supposed to directly target them.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

I thank Deputy Doherty and his colleagues for bringing this motion before the Dáil and allowing us to participate in this discussion. I do not think the motion will make one bit of difference to the Government’s approach in housing policy. We stand here for a different reason. We stand to show there is a different way to deal with the housing crisis and to let people know there is a difference between the Government and its three parties and those who stand here, not for the sake of opposition or for the sake of being negative but to give hope and vision to the people who voted us in. Tonight we have a motion that seeks to penalise the investor funds at a certain percentage. There are also amendments which seek to do it at a higher rate. I agree with that. However it is just part of the overall problem.

In the speech the Minister of State read out it is significant that he said we are blinded by ideology on this side of the House. That is one of the most misleading things I have heard in my life because the ideology is completely on the side of the Government parties which believe that housing is a commodity to be traded on the market. "The market will provide" is the motto of this Government and every government, although they use deceitful language to hide that. When the market fails, as it has demonstrably failed, then it comes up with every possible scheme to help the market in every way to make a profit and it tells us it is for our good. At every level, the language it uses is disingenuous, deceitful and unacceptable.

It is extraordinary that in the Minister of State’s speech tonight he did not mention the homeless figure. The homeless figure is not worth mentioning. That is an extraordinary omission when we have seen homelessness rise to the highest point. I will quote it: 13,514 people are homeless, including 4,105 children. In 2020, and it has worsened since then, 121 homeless people died. That is roughly ten a month. "Roughly" is the right word, in terms of people sleeping rough and rough figures. There is a complete acceptance of that by successive governments which see this as collateral damage.

Look at Galway city with which I am very familiar. I spent 17 years of my life as a city councillor and watched with despair and disgust – words which I used in relation to Gaza – as the housing crisis was allowed intensify. We stopped building public housing in 2009 and we never built another house until 2020 or 2021.

I have a constituent who has been on a housing list for 18 years. We are told by the city council that it cannot give us any clue, idea or time when that person will be allocated a house. Even worse, we are told that because that person is on a RAS scheme, they are deemed a special transfer applicant. The Minister of State might listen to this language and help me to tell this person after 18 years on a waiting list for a council house, he has been deemed a special transfer applicant.

To add insult to injury, the council has said that this means this person is not technically on the housing waiting list after 18 solid years. Because that person was not faced with an immediate notice of termination, he was not considered worthy of any consideration but he will remain on that special transfer list. God knows what it means. I have said many times that we abolished limbo but we have kept a limbo of some sort with the various waiting lists we have. We have a waiting list for those who are not in receipt of HAP, a waiting list for those in HAP - I do not know what status they have - and a waiting list for those in receipt of RAS and presumably the rent supplement. We stand here and talk about a housing crisis, ach tá an chluas bhodhar á tabhairt dúinn ón Rialtas. It is not even listening to us. It is so concerned with giving pat responses that are prepared by advisers but bear no reality to what is happening on the ground.

What are my solutions with regard to Galway city? We recognise there is a housing crisis. We either abolish the task force that was set up more than three years ago or we ask it to produce a full report with an analysis of what it sees as being the reason for the crisis. We look at a city that has absolutely no overall plan or city architect. We have a Land Development Agency that is just about to complete negotiations with the port company to purchase public land at a high price so that it can construct premium housing. Can you imagine premium housing in a city where somebody has been on a waiting list for 18 years? At any given time we have empty houses that are owned by the city council. There are 100 of them. I do not need to exaggerate. In my own area of the Claddagh there is a house not too far from me which I pass every day and has remained empty for more than three years. Up to three years ago it was fit to house somebody. Somebody died and it was left empty. That is one of 100 houses that I could list. The answer from the city council is that it is only a tiny percentage of its social housing stock.

I would like to stop the silly pitter-patter across the floor of the House about ideological differences and recognise that housing policy is an utter failure when that many people are homeless. They are the people we count. We do not count hundreds, if not thousands, of others.

Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne

I support the motion on the floor of the Chamber this evening and commend what it sets out to achieve. Investment funds trading in the Irish residential property market are perverting average house prices across the country. In my constituency of Clare, house prices rose by 4.3% on average over the past year and the average house price now stands at approximately €242,680. That is according to the most recent report to the end of last year by Ronan Lyons for Daft.ie. In this context, home buyers in my constituency are under immense pressure. They are in a heavily flooded market with a lot of other bidders, not least the local authority in many cases, and people who want to buy a holiday home or an Airbnb in others. This Government has failed to discourage the bulk buying by investment funds of huge developments in an ever-deepening housing crisis. It is shameful.

To say that these very rich and lucrative funds are paying only 10% stamp duty on the bulk-buying of massive swathes of our housing stock and have helped to drive up prices by 28% nationally since this Government took office would be laughable if it were not so pitiful. This Government has set fire to the property ladder. It is dismantling it rung by rung. It has copped out of going after holiday homes, with a ludicrous vacant homes tax that has failed fundamentally to act as a deterrent. The Government has done the same with vulture funds. In my constituency it has virtually stopped one from building a house, let alone from buying one. I fully support the motion. To be honest I do not think it goes far enough. These funds have deep pockets and let us get to the bottom of them. I am aware there are amendments calling for exactly that. We need policy that responds and reacts directly and significantly to issues in society, if it cannot prevent them. That is not the experience on the ground.

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Deputy Sean Fleming)

I thank everyone who contributed to the debate. I reiterate that supporting homeownership is a top priority for the Government. I know some parties in this House are generally opposed to the principle of homeownership. It is extraordinary that they come with a motion relating to people who want their own residential house and that they talk about residential property prices. The policy of the party that put forward this motion is clearly to make sure every householder in the country is plunged into negative equity. We saw what it said about houses over €300,000. I am not talking about Dublin. I am talking about Portlaoise. A new house in Portlaoise costs more than €300,000. Houses are selling and people want to buy them. The policy of the party that put forward tonight's motion is to make sure that the day a person takes on a house and signs a contract, they should be in negative equity for the rest of their lives because the party wants to put a cap on the value of all houses. The actual outcome of what that party is proposing is that every householder in Ireland should be in negative equity. Why would they do that? The party would do that because it is opposed to homeownership and it is extraordinary that it is professing to be concerned about homeownership in this motion. It is important to state at the beginning that this is where this motion is coming from.

I understand a previous Deputy said that there was no reference to homelessness in the Government's response. We tend to deal with the motion that is before us. I looked at the Opposition party's amendment and there is no mention of homelessness in it. I also looked at the amendments put forward by two other groups in opposition and again, there is no mention of homelessness. It is a little unfair to chastise the Government, which is dealing with a motion that does not deal specifically with that issue. We are trying to respond to the motion and the amendments put forward by the Opposition, which make no reference to homelessness. I want to put that on the record.

This topic has been discussed during the course of the day. The standard rate of stamp duty that applies to the acquisition of residential properties of up to €1 million in value is 1%. The rate that applies to properties exceeding €1 million in value is 2%. Stamp duty legislation provides for a higher 10% rate of duty to be charged on the acquisition of individual residential properties when a person acquires at least ten such properties during any 12-month period. There is a reference to Belgard Manor on the north side of Dublin in the actual motion. It is very important to say that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage issued section 28 guidelines for planning authorities which aimed to prevent multiple units being sold to a single buyer. The planning application for Belcamp Manor predated these new restrictions. However, planning applications from May 2021 are subject to the restrictions. We took a very reasonable approach. It is the policy in most legislation that it cannot be applied retrospectively. The argument now is that we have implemented this since May 2021 but the case being cited predates that. It would be very difficult - a question would arise - if we could backdate legislation and make it retrospective in respect of planning permissions that were granted before this legislation came into place. It is a fair point that needs to be dealt with.

Revenue Commissioners data demonstrate that a total of €40 million has been collected in this category over the last two years. This is very significant and shows that the tax is actually working. That represents less than 2% of the houses that were for sale during that period. We have a situation. There are issues with apartments which generally need funding upfront because most builders and developers would not be able to fund them. They need a commitment because building apartments is more expensive. Many of them fall into this category. That is why, with regard to housing people who want to live in apartment blocks, there is a greater level of apartments that are funded by institutional investors than in regular housing estates. First-time buyers accounted for 470 mortgage drawdowns per week in the first three quarters of 2023. We are dealing with a situation that relates to houses.

I am not talking about apartments because the motion generally concentrates on houses. It is important to remember that we are talking about 2% of the market and much of that is a hangover relating to issues that had arisen before we introduced the legislation.

Some 28,000 mortgages were drawn down by first-time buyers alone. That excludes people who were trading up and perhaps moving on from starter homes to larger homes. Over the 12 months to September 2023, this figure was the highest for many a long year. The responses we are taking are achieving results. Do we want more to be done? Yes, we do. Do we want higher targets than we have? Yes, we do. Do we want to build more houses than the 30,000 plus per annum we are currently building? Yes, we do, but we are working and we are getting there. It is taking time. I could list many a town and city in around the country where we will see hundreds of houses being built if we drive through them. That is the case in many of the new provincial towns. It will grieve some members of the Opposition that such progress is being made in this area.

I say to all those who bought houses in recent years and those who already own houses that the principal aim of the main Opposition party is to ensure they will be in negative equity for as long as they live. I say that because it is not possible to buy a house in Portlaoise for less than €300,000. It is ridiculous to talk about that kind of kind of price cap. We would all love if things cost less, but people used their life savings and obtained mortgages to buy houses and the main party in the Opposition wants to devalue them. I am afraid that it ties in with its philosophy of being against homeownership. That policy more than anything else has demonstrated the real intention of the main Opposition party on this particular issue.

There was a comment earlier that was almost against people making a profit from building houses. It is considered almost immoral for a builder to make a profit at the end of a year's work if somebody wants to build a house or a group of houses or people want to build their own houses. The word "profit" has been used against people. We cannot expect a builder or people to work for nothing and not even to achieve a return on their investment for months spent in building a house. Then they would move on to build another house and another one after that. People have to earn a living. People have to be able to make a profit if they are running a business. One cannot run a small or large business without making a profit. What is coming through this debate is that Sinn Féin is against people making a profit in the housing market. We would have no houses built in Ireland if that philosophy were carried through. People need to be able to survive and to acquire land for sites for new houses. They can only do that if they have demonstrated that they have some funds available. If people go to any financial institution saying that they did not make a profit on any of their last three projects but could they please have a loan so they can invest in building another group of houses in the future, the answer to that would be very quick and sharp, namely, that they cannot survive on that basis.

We see a consistent assault on the various schemes by the main Opposition party. It has opposed planning permissions right, left and centre whenever it can. Some people were lucky enough to get deposits through various schemes provided by the Government and also to get some of their own hard-earned tax money back, but that has been opposed consistently by several members of the Opposition because they do not want people to own their own properties. They want people to be beholden to the State and local authorities. We have heard lots of criticism of local authorities but those who engage in such criticism do not want people to own their own houses; they want people to be tenants of the local authorities, which they criticise day in and day out and every time they come in here.

This motion highlights a level of hypocrisy from a party that is opposed to homeownership and that criticises people who want to own a home as well as those who want to make a profit out of that. We are only talking about less than 2% of the houses that have been built since this legislation came in that have been affected by this tax. Those involved have already paid a large amount in terms of the levy that has been collected.

Deputy Verona Murphy

Would you allow me the liberty, a Cheann Comhairle, of making a point? I know the Minister of State was not here when I made my contribution but two officials were present. This is very important from the point of view of what we are discussing and housing development. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that the officials of the Department he represents would come back with a written response to my contribution in regard to the "Prime Time Investigates" programme that was aired. I will leave it at that. I do not want to delay Deputy Doherty. Could I ask for an undertaking in that regard?

Deputy Sean Fleming

I will certainly relay that request to the line Minister.

An Ceann Comhairle

To conclude the debate, we will have Deputy Daly. The Deputy will be sharing time with Deputies Andrews and Doherty. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy Pa Daly

The housing policy of this Government can be summed up by saying, "We need more houses, the market will provide them and we do not really care how or for whom they will be delivered". The bulk purchase of the 46 homes in Belcamp that were aimed at individual buyers has exposed the incompetence of the Government's plan and its lack of concern for home purchasers, homeless children, students, people on the housing waiting lists and older people. I will return to the latter group. In order to prevent this and disincentivise the vulture funds, Sinn Féin called for a higher rate of stamp duty to be applied to the purchase of homes by investment funds. It did so by tabling amendments to the Finance Bill in 2020 and by means of a Private Members' motion in May 2021, which the Government rejected.

The Government was warned by Sinn Féin that belated measures introduced in May 2021 would be insufficient, but the Government opened the door for the continued bulk purchases by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers, with 630 such homes being purchased at that time at the expense of individual home buyers.

I support this motion calling on the Government to introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge at a minimum rate of 17%. Earlier, I was sent a copy of the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, which was recently introduced in order to prevent vulture funds edging out purchasers by banning the hedge funds from buying single family homes and making them sell them off.

While I have the Minister of State's attention, I want to raise with him an issue relating to older people. Some 600 to 700 people who are mostly elderly avail of the housing grant schemes in Kerry each year in the context of wet rooms, roofs, heating systems and bedroom and bathroom extensions. Quotes are now coming in for amounts that are way above the rate of inflation. The grants are capped at figures that were set a decade ago, so there is an increasing gap that has often to be filled by the elderly applicant who cannot afford it. I am asking for the cap relating to the grants to be raised.

Investment Funds Trading in the Residential Property Market: Motion [Private Members]

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Jan 2024