Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I wonder would the Taoiseach go to the Cabinet with a proposal to change the name of Rebuilding Ireland because it is not rebuilding Ireland. The lowest figures for public sector house building were released last week. They were buried under the other problems the Government had last week but I wish to bring them to the Taoiseach's attention in case he missed them.

We thought we were doing badly under the former Minister, Deputy Kelly, with 476 public sector houses built in 2015 but, lo and behold, under the Minister, Deputy Coveney, we got 448 public sector houses in 2016. The rate actually slowed in the last quarter and I wonder whether the Taoiseach has any room for worry there.

Obviously, there were record numbers of homeless people at Christmas and the new year. Yesterday, according to The Irish Times, 700 patients were discharged from hospitals last year into homelessness. Some 8% of those who attended the Mater accident and emergency department were of homeless families. Does the Taoiseach feel a bit of a failure? The Taoiseach's legacy surely matters to him as he draws towards the end. On the issue of housing, one of the most fundamental issues in anybody's life, clearly the Government is not working.

Rents also were shown to be the highest on record since Daft began recording figures. Focus Ireland has stated one-in-three tenants struggle to pay their rent, one-in-nine fears losing their home and 88% want the Government to regulate rents. On the limited measures the Government took in relation to the rent pressure zones, I have a serious question. How will they be enforced? If a tenant who wants to rent out a property walks up to a landlord, he or she has no way of proving whether or not that landlord has abided by the measure.

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