Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing his name to go forward to be the Chair of this committee, even if it is only for a short time, and congratulate and support him. As public representatives we all know the difficulties on a daily basis for people who are trying to get a home. Whether one lives in Dublin or in any other part of the country, not having a place to call home is very difficult particularly when one has very young children and one is being moved from one accommodation to another. We are beholden to those people to do as much as we can as a committee to ensure we leave no stone unturned to put some concrete proposals in place to deal not only with social housing but private housing. Due to the lack of supply and the lack of housing, many young couples are finding it difficult even when they go to view a place to get into the market. We have to think of those also. Within the next couple of weeks, we must work together as a group, and put aside any other issues we may have, to pull together some solutions to the housing problems of all the young people and the homeless people.