Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If so, that is the first time the Minister of State has clarified that point. Even if that is the case, it is not a lot of use to people because the Government has already instructed councils to give priority to homeless people. Therefore, the small few council houses that are available will be given to people who are homeless. Prioritised thereafter will be those with certain medical needs. Therefore, very few houses will go to anybody from the transfer list.

People have said repeatedly that what the Government is doing amounts to privatisation of the social housing programme, a washing of hands and an abdication of all responsibility for the provision of social housing. Even in the worst of times in this country, Governments had reasonable social housing building programmes because they recognised it as a fundamental responsibility to provide public housing of decent quality to the many people who were not in a position to provide housing for themselves. For the first time, it seems, the Government is changing this policy and effectively washing its hands of responsibility-----

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