Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Simon Community survey found that 87% of rental properties are beyond the reach of people who depend on State housing benefits. This was raised earlier. It also found that less than half the number of rental properties are available than were available in May 2015. The Simon Community is deeply and rightly concerned about the ongoing reduction in the availability of homes to rent, which is down by 19% from August 2015 and by 55% since May 2015. The report is the first since the Minister introduced changes to the rent supplement payment in July, and it strongly suggests that the Minister's changes have had little or no impact.

One of the marks of Fine Gael in government has been its utter failure to tackle properly the issue of social housing and homelessness. The Taoiseach once promised to end homelessness by 2016. That was five years ago, and the situation has deteriorated. Recently, the number of rough sleepers on the streets of Dublin increased to 168, the highest number ever recorded. In the Taoiseach's previous remarks, he referred to homeless people or rough sleepers and said the vast majority should not be there. I do not know what he means by that.

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