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

There seems to be a significant bureaucracy in terms of accessing funds. I did not realise it was so messy until recently. There is no doubt the approved housing bodies are doing great work, but we have a major crisis with housing and homelessness. Some 45 new families join the homeless list every month. The plan was to deliver something like 7,400 units this year, 5,000 of which were to come from the rental market or leasing. The reality is these houses are not available. We can talk about getting 5,000 units as part of a plan, but where will they be found?

We need to ensure that the housing bodies are delivering and that there are no obstacles to them accessing funding. However, there seems to be a bit of an obstacle. There is certainly some money there but accessing it seems to be a big problem. I am asking the Minister of State to look at this to see if it can be improved. She should talk to representatives of the HFA to see how the bureaucratic system in place can be speeded up. People are crying out and hundreds of people are staying in hotels throughout the country and particularly in the Dublin region, which is unacceptable. Any bureaucracy that is put in the way needs to be dealt with.

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