Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Moving along quickly, some 10,000 houses will be built in four years as against 90,000 on the housing waiting list. The figures from the 1970s should put the Labour Party, especially, to shame. In 1971, 4,789 homes could be built. That increased to 6,000 in 1973 and 8,794 in 1975. At the time of less wealth in Irish society, the Government could build as many houses as the current Government proposes to build in four years, with the scale of the crisis massively greater. That shows the utter failure of this Government to resolve any of the crucial issues in our society. Happily, people are rising up against horrific austerity. We have only seen the very beginning of it.

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