Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There are queues forming. These are not queues of people waiting to attend concerts, rather they are of young families waiting for houses which they can turn into homes. This is heartbreaking because the queues are not moving. As someone who has been interested in the issue of social housing for a long time it is important to put in context why this is happening. The context can only be understood by looking back to the so-called Celtic tiger era. It was at that time that people were enveloped by the sense that everybody could buy their own home. This sense was sweetened by seductive offers of finance from banks to purchase not only one house but, perhaps, an apartment in Spain or somewhere else.

Amid the fever of buy, buy, buy the Government turned off the funding tap for social housing. The funding streams for construction, buy-backs, regeneration and refurbishment were all switched off resulting in a dwindling of the housing stock. The funding ceased and the queues increased and have continued to grow. This could be seen as a bleak scenario. I once heard a child on a bus from Ballyfermot point out an empty house to his mother as we passed it. People have been taken over by their need for housing.

While the outlook may appear somewhat bleak I no longer hold to that. I know the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and of her work in Limerick on a whole range of social issues over the past 30 to 35 years, which has been difficult work that required dedication and vision. I am heartened by some of the announcements made by the Minister of State, including the recent announcement of an additional €68 million for construction and €15 million in respect of voids. I welcome that regeneration of areas such as St. Theresa's Gardens and Darndale are to recommence. St. Theresa's Gardens has waited many years for regeneration. One of the first questions the Minister of State asked me on her appointment was if I knew of St. Theresa's Gardens. The Minister of State visited the area and met with the residents and saw at first-hand the conditions in which they were living. This prompted her to acknowledge that social housing, as she inherited it, was an emergency. I welcome the additional funding to secure a substantial number of NAMA units, the €35 million in respect of appropriate housing and accommodation for people with disabilities and €50 million for the improvement of energy efficiency in local authoring houses.

There is hope. What has been announced is only the beginning in a new pattern and trend in the supply of social housing. There is much more to come. It is badly needed.

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