Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Generally speaking, when a lease-to-lease arrangement expires after a long period the family is back where they started. They have no guaranteed place to go. I could cite numerous incidents proving this. They are certainly not housed. The State has paid the lease for 25 years and has nothing to show for it. The family that was in the property has nothing to show for it. The cycle continues. This is a waste of public money. Can Ms Ryan find out the figure for lease-to-lease arrangements?

This is astounding. If the money given to private landlords and developers in the last decade was spent elsewhere we could have had the capacity to build tens of thousands of permanent public homes. The State would have housing stock to show for that. Despite this the policy continues. Looking at the figures for next year, it seems it will continue indefinitely. Given the amount of money that has been spent and what we could have had, unless one has rocks in one's head the only conclusion one can come to is that Rebuilding Ireland has failed, particularly where value for money is concerned.