Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to make a statement on housing today, although, as I said earlier, I am disappointed that this is as close as the Dáil will get to debating very topical issues at this time. The responsibility for this and the contrived impasse in the formation of a Government lies with the two conservative parties in the House.

Those in need of housing, in emergency accommodation, on hospital trolleys or on unacceptable waiting lists for operations are still in a precarious situation, and that is the legacy of the Government. The emergency crisis is a direct result of Government policy. Time and time again during the last Dáil, Sinn Féin and others warned the Government of the growing housing crisis. Today, families from Tyrrelstown protested at Leinster House. They have been forced into homelessness by the stroke of a pen from a vulture fund, yet the Government is doing nothing. Today's statements on housing and homelessness will not help a single one of the families in need. What they need are homes.

Sinn Féin has set out its stall. It is possible to deliver security and certainty for tenants and to support homeowners and buyers. It is possible to stop the profiteering of banks at the cost of mortgage holders. It is possible to ensure that a minimum of 4,000 of NAMA's 20,000 private homes are used for social housing.

Most of all, it is possible to invest an additional €2.2 billion in housing to provide 36,500 new homes over the next five years. This Government decided otherwise. It decided it was better to give the money to the banks and to the golden circles.

Last year, five new council homes were built by Louth County Council. In 2014, four were built yet there are 5,000 people on the housing list. At the rate houses are being built it will take over 1,000 years to clear the housing list. That is an indictment of this Government and of past Governments. As the centenary of the 1916 Rising approaches, that is the scale of work required to tackle this emergency.

I commend the credit union initiative in offering €8 billion for investment in social and affordable housing, yet the Government has not agreed to it. The Minister might give an explanation as to the reason for that. The answer from my point of view is simple: the Government does not believe that citizens in this centenary year of the Rising have the right to a home.

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