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

2 o’clock

I disagree that it is too blunt a tool. There were signs that it was starting to work but the reality is that the numbers are still well up. The Minister is rolling out his programme tomorrow and I wish him all the best with it, but we had the same problem when the last Government was in office. It also rolled out a programme worth €3.3 billion but we are actually in a worse position now. I am not saying that the same will happen this time because I believe the Minister is very sincere but the evidence so far indicates that the figures do not add up in terms of what we are building. We are relying too much on the private sector and that is the big problem. Unless local authorities start building and delivering social housing, we will be in the same position in another year or two. That is the problem we are facing.

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