Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has been telling us about Rebuilding Ireland and many other projects. The former Minister, Deputy Kelly was too when he was in place. We are sick of announcements. This is the problem. How could we have a homelessness crisis improved if we are not building houses? The local authority built houses from the 1930s to the 1990s and right into the millennium. Nothing at all is happening - 11 houses, that is one and a half houses per year. That is ridiculous. We knew that but the Government was telling us the council was getting this amount of money and there was this announcement. The council was saying it had not got the money. The drawings were gone up and so on. There is nothing happening. No wonder we have a housing crisis. This is replicated up and down the country. I cannot believe it. I can believe it because I cannot see the houses.

The Government was then using the people who get ESB connections for their figures and we all knew that was not the right barometer. It could be a business premises that had closed and was being reconnected. It could be a house that was sold or anything. The Government was trying to cod the people. It is codding nobody except itself. It should be level with the people and tell the truth that it is not building the houses, it has lost the will to build them and the local authorities have lost the will and have not the money to build them, or they have not got the experts there.

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