Saoirse and Darren are a couple in their 50s, both of whom are working. They have been renting for 15 years. They pay €2,000 a month in rent in a big residential development in Cherrywood. Incidentally, their rent may get hiked because of the Government’s Bill. They have enough for a deposit and want to buy a home – a one- or two-bedroom home – but the banks will not look at them because they are in their 50s. What they need is genuinely affordable housing. The last bit of affordable housing in our area was 30 affordable homes in Shanganagh but there were 640 applicants and there are no more in the pipeline. Cherrywood’s developers were given €13 million of LIHAF funding to build it. At the time, we were initially supposed to get 40% of the development in affordable housing in exchange for that funding. That did not happen. Then we were supposed to get 300 affordable homes. Now we are told that is not happening. In the place where this couple live - they are currently renting at €2,000 a month and cannot buy - we were supposed to get affordable housing which would actually give them an option. There is no sign of it despite the fact that the public put in €13 million precisely on the condition that there would be affordable housing, something that is now not happening. I want somebody to look into what I think is a scandal that leaves people like Saoirse and Darren high and dry.

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising the need for more affordable homes and the concerns of Saoirse and Darren so that it is an option for them to purchase their own home which is something they want to do. We have included in the new housing plan that local authorities not only must have commitments to social housing and social housing action plans for their own county but must also now have affordable housing plans as well. I do not have the specifics in respect of Cherrywood with me but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to consider the issues the Deputy raised and revert to him directly.