Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We can address that. We will chase it up. There have been issues regarding housing in general and Traveller-specific accommodation during recent years. The finances we needed were not always there. Now, the money is there and there has been a massive increase in the spend for Traveller-specific accommodation. We will liaise with the council to see if we can get the money spent and the situation addressed. If the situation the Deputy has described is the case, it is unacceptable and it needs to be sorted out.

The Government is committed to making progress on this critically important issue. The number of people in emergency accommodation is unsatisfactory. We are committed to ending it by June 2017. The resources are there and we are committed to tackling it. We cannot fix it overnight. We wish we could, and I think the Deputy accepts this. We have been dealing with all parties and everybody recognises the significance of the problem. Over Christmas, we must ensure people are not left without even emergency accommodation. We are committed to this. While I understand from my officials that it will be addressed, we will follow it up for the Deputy. The resources are there to address the short-term issue. We must address supply. The Deputy raised the issue that houses have been removed over the years. We are trying to source additional accommodation as well as give the capacity back to local authorities to build houses and bring vacant properties on board. There is a strong commitment and there are several actions in the action plan across the five pillars. If we can get a few more months under our belts, we can make an impact on it. However, we are in the early stages.

See this speech in context