Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State keeps referring to the €58 million. This is over a two-year period. However, we must also remember that nearly €60 million was cut from the housing budget for this year. Sometimes, we play with figures and it does not always add up. Since 2008, over €1 billion has been cut from the housing budget. That is one of the big problems we have. We cannot keep cutting and then adding on a bit later on and massaging the figures because that is what it is. The reality is that we need to build more social housing to address this issue. It will not solve all the problems but it will help level the playing field.

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