Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach made three comments by way of explanation for some of the difficulties in housing, which were of a similar shade to those made last weekend by the Dublin city manager. For example, he referred to one of the causes for homelessness being that people refuse offers. Another cause was that 27% of people are international people who have come to Ireland. The figure of 27% is relatively low in terms of the number of international people who have come to Ireland in the past. The third cause cited was addiction. I asked the Taoiseach about children in homelessness. I recognise that a lot of people who are homeless have problems. As far as I am aware, the people who sleep rough and have serious mental and, possibly, addiction problems are not included in the housing statistics published this morning. As with women in refuges, they are taken account of but they are not actually, as far as I am aware, included in the figures published this morning. According to the Taoiseach, everything is the fault of people who are homeless but the real cause is the serious breakdown in our housing provision structure, which is worsening.

I am glad the Taoiseach responded to my question regarding the 35,000 target. Is there a Government plan to increase output from 25,000 to 35,000, which is what we need to do if we are to catch up?