Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I will touch on a few things the Minister of State said. He claimed he was as much in touch on the housing issue as those on this side of the House and that he was from the same type of background. That is not true of the Dáil. The Dáil is not in any way representative of working class people. Approximately 27% of Deputies are landlords, which is not the case in wider society. I do not know how many millionaires are in the Dáil, but in one Dáil there were 25. Ministers and Deputies are on much higher salaries than the general population. Very few Deputies are from working class backgrounds compared to the proportion of the general population and very few were brought up in a council house. This Dáil is not in any way representative of society at large. Some people made their money through politics but there are many who were very wealthy before they came in here and who have carried on those vested interests. How many Deputies got bank write-downs compared to the general population and how many have property portfolios?

What projects was the Minister of State talking about us welcoming in local authorities? There are no projects. There are no houses-----

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