Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the provision of family hubs across our cities. They are a welcome development in recent months, although they have come very late in the day. I hope the pace of provision will be quickened such that there will not be a repeat of what occurred on Tuesday night. When a similar situation arose two years ago, in response to being told that the law was not strong enough in respect of the obligation on Government regarding the provision of housing for homeless families - it is very clear in the context of provision for children - the Taoiseach said that the situation would not arise again and that there was no need to strengthen any legislation. It is a damning indictment of him and his Government that, two years later, the situation has arisen again and the crisis has worsened. Despite all the best laid plans and announcements the delivery of housing has not been what it should be. Despite the introduction of rent pressure zones, rent costs are higher. The home-to-buy scheme has done nothing but give rise to higher house prices, particularly in Dublin. Regulation on costs to builders is exceptionally slow and social housing provision is wholly inadequate. In addition, the provision of rapid-build accommodation has been woefully slow.

After a year in office and with the Government on the cusp of having a new leader, it is time to concentrate on the job at hand and provide the services, facilities and housing units people crave. We have heard a lot of sentiment on the subject in recent weeks but we need to deal with reality and the Government has failed to do that up to now.

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