Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The housing crisis and escalating rates of homelessness have been a constant feature of this Government's term of office from the beginning. We have had endless debates here and heard the pleas of families for affordable and social housing along with the alarm bells sounded by the Simon Community and many other homelessness organisations for years. We have also seen scheme after scheme being announced, only in some cases for those schemes to be found to be little more than a charade.

In July 2022, the Minister launched the vacant property refurbishment grant to support bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use. The big problem, however, is that due to a dispute with the banks and their unwillingness to provide mortgages according to the terms of the scheme, just one person was able to draw down the grant despite more than 100 approved applications. The plain fact was that the scheme was essentially inoperable for the best part of a year.

I also want to express my view and the view of many, once again, that at some point, we are going to have address the elephant in the room, namely, the dire impact of essentially unlimited immigration on housing and emergency accommodation stock. I raised this matter with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in June. At that time, he took the high moral ground, lectured me, wagged his finger and told me that I was wrong. I said at the time that we would see people coming in from other countries lying on the floor in hotel rooms. It is actually worse than that. They are in tents. I would like to see what the Minister has to say about that now. Has he changed his tune? Have the chickens come home to roost because it is a reality? Continuing on this path is reckless to say the least.

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