'There seems to be a social experiment going on' - Martin claims Govt moving people away from home ownership
Fianna Fáil leader has accused the government of conducting a social experiment to turn Ireland away from homeownership and into a rental model.
“There seems to be a social experiment going on here that Ireland should move away from the home ownership model and move into a rental model,” he told RTE Radio’s .
“People want to live in houses that are affordable, that's something that has been a distinctive feature of Irish life and it's something that we shouldn't throw away too easily.
“We're not building enough council houses at the rate that we should be,” he added.
Mr Martin also said that a suggestion by the head of advocacy at Focus Ireland, Mike Allen, that there should be a moratorium on evictions should be examined. He said there is a case for greater engagement with landlords, but that there should not be a blanket moratorium.
There are situations where people are being evicted through no fault of their own.
“There is a case for engagement with the industry to say look, given the crisis that we are in let's put a halt on the unnecessary eviction of people. There will always be situations where people are not paying any rent or people are being reckless as renters, we have to allow for that too, you can't have an entirely blanket moratorium.”
He also said that there is a whole generation of Irish people who are growing up with no prospect of ever owning their own home.
“Fine Gael has failed consistently over a number of years to deliver any meaningful progress on the housing situation. Rebuilding Ireland is not working.”
He said that this had happened “on Fine Gael’s watch”.
There has to be a significant change of direction, he said.
Mr Martin said that on the campaign trail the public are raising the issues of the housing crisis and health.
Affordable housing had been included in the Budget because of Fianna Fáil and Mr Martin was now calling for the delivery of the promised 6,000 houses.
He also called on local authorities to be “freed up” to make more decisions in relation to housing, at present they are hamstrung.
Mr Martin added that there are many adult offspring living with their parents who are not included in homeless figures, but they too were in effect homeless.
It’s a real crisis that demands an urgent response.
He warned that the public’s patience “is wearing thin with Fine Gael’s inability to deliver on housing or on health.”
