Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I genuinely wish the Minister good luck in his new position. I said the same to his predecessor because this issue transcends any individual or party represented in this House and we have a crisis beyond a crisis. We have a crisis because social, public and community housing have become dirty words. Social housing has come to mean dysfunctional housing, which is bad. The public housing programme has been a huge success overall. There have been projects that have failed, but housing projects across the State have largely been a success. I am from one in Clondalkin. My family moved from Islandbridge flats to Neilstown which is a huge council estate. It had its problems at the start and still has some, but it is an amazing community that grew together and got out of certain situations.

We can have these great plans, but the reason we have this housing crisis is that, ultimately, social housing has become a dirty word and is being ideologically driven down.

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