Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is not responsible for housing, but I asked her if she has had or will have continuous crisis meetings to address this issue. A pilot scheme in Limerick does not address it. The plan to get the construction industry going will not address it in the short term. It will take at least five years if the Government puts the money into local authorities, which it is not doing. The Minister mentioned boarding up of houses. Local authorities have not been given the money to put those properties into the condition required. Dublin City Council has a whole range of bedsits, which are now illegal under EU legislation. The council needs the money to change them.

I have asked, as a stopgap measure, that the Minister consider the threshold. I am not and have never been in favour of subsidising private landlords. I have always argued that the money should be going into social housing directly through the local authorities. It is a stopgap measure to help some families in this city in particular - I presume it is the same in some of the other cities - where matters are now at crisis point. I ask the Minister to take emergency action.

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