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

The Minister of State referred to solutions. There are solutions to everything but we have put forward proposals with regard to solutions. I realise they would take some time but they could work if they were enacted quickly, worked on and if the Cabinet would agree it. We know from all the parliamentary questions we have put that there is at least €1 billion in the strategic fund that could be used. That would deliver almost 8,000 units. This would have all the pluses in terms of getting people back to work, local authorities getting rent from the properties and taking many people off the rent supplement and rental accommodation schemes etc. These are all pluses. Let us consider the mathematics. It is not as though we will add to our national debt in any way or that we will have to argue with the troika over it.

There is money available but we need to see the will to do it. This needs to be taken to Cabinet. It needs to be put to those in Cabinet that this is an absolute crisis. There are 5,000 people homeless and 40 new families per month are reporting homelessness. People are in mortgage distress and tens of thousands of people are in danger of being made homeless. We are going to see more people losing out as a result of the introduction of the housing assistance payment because landlords are not accepting rent supplement, they are not going to accept the housing assistance payment or be tied in to a local authority. That will be the next step from them. We need to take action quickly. There are solutions to this.

See this speech in context