Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the last issue the Deputy raised, I have said previously - giving the Deputy some detail, which I will not repeat - that the individual circumstances of families in particular houses are taken into account. The Deputy is aware of that because there are individuals, whom I referenced previously when the Deputy raised the issue in the Chamber, who are described as overholders in the technical sense and who have been living in some of these houses for many years. There are elderly individuals there. As the Deputy is aware, there is no intention ultimately to discommode them, but they are not in lawful possession of the properties. No one will be rendered homeless on the basis of the manner in which we deal with these matters.

There is a significant wider housing issue which must be addressed. I have explained to the Deputy that as a Government we are altogether conscious of this. The Minister of State responsible, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is doing what she can to address the issue. Sadly and unfortunately, because of the financial position of the State, there is not an open-ended amount of money that can be made available to address this as comprehensively as we all would like.

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