Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett. The very reasons the Deputy outlined for the people who are faced with this situation are the result of an economy that collapsed and a construction sector that vanished. This Government and that which preceded it have set about rectifying matters. We have done a lot of things in terms of having an engine to drive the economy. The people who are going into the 38 houses that are being completed in September of this year in Belcamp have the same stories. The people who are going to occupy the 24 houses in Cherry Orchard in July of this year have the same stories.

The people who are going into the 30 houses on Mourne Road in Drimnagh in June of this year have the same stories. The people who are going into the 39 houses in St. Helena's in Finglas have the same stories. I could give the Deputy their names and their details also. I feel sorry for those in the situation the Deputy has described. I do not know about the situation whereby a housing officer or an individual in a local council would send somebody ten or 12 miles away, as the Deputy has described. He mentioned that particular case before.

There are lists of houses that are currently under construction and for which taxpayers' money has been put up. Money has been given to local authorities to get on with building. Quite recently, €200 million was allocated by this House in order to obtain access to sites so houses could be built for people such as those the Deputy describes. Nobody wants to see the situation continue. This Government is working very actively on this. That is why there is a senior Ministry for housing and a special unit in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. That is why an unprecedented amount of money has been provided to all local authorities to buy, renovate or build houses. We will not have this solved until the people the Deputy mentions and those who come after them, or those who find themselves in particular difficulties, are housed in proper accommodation. That is the intention and ambition of the Government.

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