Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks.

I agree we have a serious housing problem that has to be addressed. I acknowledge Sinn Féin's support for the strategy that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, announced to end homelessness by 2016. That is an objective that should be pursued by Government, by agencies working with homeless people and by local authorities. It is clear, particularly following last Friday's elections, that this responsibility is now shared more widely politically, particularly regarding the governance of various local authorities. I hope that over the coming weeks political parties, which have been successful and in many cases have become the largest party in local authorities and will be part of governing arrangements in local authorities, will ensure that the agreements they make with other parties for the running of local authorities for the next five years will commit to ensure that sites are made available and plans are drawn up for the provision of social housing to ensure that people's housing needs are met.

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