Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as an tairiscint thábhachtach seo a chur chun cinn. Tá géarchéim tithíochta ar fud na tíre. Tá éigeandáil ann. There is a housing crisis all over this country. It is an emergency. Is fadhb ar leith í sa Ghaeltacht. There is a specific crisis that affects the Gaeltacht. That is, of course, because tá todhchaí na nGaeltachtaí i mbaol agus, mar sin, tá todhchaí na Gaeilge, ár dteanga, i mbaol. There is a specific issue because the future of the Gaeltacht is in danger and that means the future of our language is in danger. Tá todhchaí na nGaeltachtaí i mbaol mar níl aon tithe ar fáil le ceannach nó le glacadh ar cíos. There is nothing to buy or rent for the cainteoirí, the Irish speakers, in the Gaeltacht, because all the properties are on Airbnb or are tithe saoire, holiday homes. This is the fundamental problem and why there is a specific crisis in the Gaeltachtaí. They face a concentration of Airbnb properties and holiday homes that nowhere else in the country is facing. This is a problem that the Government has done a U-turn on and it is absolutely shameful. The Government promised to address the issue of short-term lets and Airbnb but it did a U-turn for its Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. It is back to parish-pump politics. The price that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael paid to stay in power was to turn their backs on the communities in the Gaeltachtaí who have been highlighting for many years the issues of Airbnb and holiday homes and how they are putting the future of our teanga and their communities, a bpobail, i mbaol. If we go to any area of the Gaeltacht, there are only a handful of homes available ar cíos fadtéarmach, for long-term rent, and all of it is on Airbnb. Caithfidh an Stát tithe inacmhainne a mhaoiniú agus a thógáil. In my view, the State must finance and build homes trí thacaíocht a thabhairt d’Údarás na Gaeltachta, na húdaráis áitiúla agus pobail áitiúla. That needs to be done through supporting Údarás na Gaeltachta, our local governments and local communities. Le teacht ar réiteach na faidhbe, ní mór do pholasaí teacht le riachtanais mhuintir na háite. Policy has to work for the needs of local people in our Gaeltachtaí. Currently, it is not working. It is actually working against them. I again highlight the Government's U-turn and failure to act on short-term lets, which is essentially abandoning the Gaeltachtaí to their homes being purchased continuously for short-term lets and as holiday homes. It is a free market down there. The Government could have done something that would have ensured the homes that are being built and exist are there for people to live in permanently to support our cainteoirí agus ár gcuid pobal Gaeltachta. Tá daoine óga ag fágáil na nGaeltachtaí mar gheall ar easpa tithíochta le ceannach nó le glacadh ar cíos. Young people are leaving the Gaeltacht, just like they are leaving this country, because there is a lack of housing to buy or rent. There is a fundamental flaw within the Government's housing policies, which is the over-reliance on the private market. The Government incentivises investor funds. It thinks they are going to build in Dublin. It wants them to build high-end properties. They are not going to be building anything in the Gaeltachtaí. What has the Government done? It has allowed the landlords in the Gaeltachtaí and in rural Ireland to hike up the rents, which is what they are going to do. It has incentivised landlords to buy up more properties because the rents will be even higher. That puts more pressure on local house prices. The State must intervene in a way that finances local authorities properly, because they do not have sufficient money, to build public affordable housing in our Gaeltachtaí. I will call out the Minister. He threw up his hands and said he is disgraced at what happened with the evictions in Wexford. I have been telling him since he was appointed that these evictions are happening. He has not raised a peep about them. He has done nothing to protect people from eviction. He has given new tenancies protection but not the 250,000 households who are all facing eviction. There are going to be, and are, hundreds of people across the country who are in situations like those in the Wexford estates and who are being evicted. Some 20,000 households were evicted last year. Thousands are facing eviction notices right now. Why does the Minister not put in place a ban on no-fault evictions? He says it will deter landlords. That is the only reason he is not doing it. Why is the Government not putting in place a ban on evictions and families being made homeless? The reason it is not doing that is, as all of the previous Ministers and taoisigh have said, that will scare off landlords. The Government is saying it straight. It is allowing people to be made homeless to protect landlords. It is a disgraceful decision. The Minister is being disingenuous by saying he is going to stand up to this. If he wants to stand up to it, he should put in place a ban on no-fault evictions.

Sentiment score: -0.10