Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his frankness. We can argue about percentages but we will not fall out over that. The Minister of State referred to households appearing on multiple lists in different authorities. I am a little confused by that because it is extremely difficult to move from the county housing list to the city housing list in Cork. I assume there is airbrushing of figures there. We want to ignore it at present.

The Minister of State also said that the early indications are that the number of households qualified for and in need of social housing support is down nationally. Again, I must disagree with that. It is probably the bane of all Deputies and county councillors that 90% of the issues raised in our constituency offices relate to housing, so we know there is a national emergency. In its alternative budget Sinn Féin proposed an additional spend of €702 million to the Government's original spend. The proposal has been costed and I appeal to the Minister of State to examine it so we can make a difference.

Finally, on a nicer note, I take this opportunity to congratulate the housing departments in the local authorities and, in particular, in Cork County Council and Cork City Council for their excellent work to date. I also congratulate my local county councillors, Danielle Twomey and Melissa Mullane, on their tireless work. It is unfortunate that the task has been made very difficult because the Government has not been providing enough money locally. Local knowledge is vital and when local authorities were building houses, the system worked better. I recall that around three years ago an individual in the housing department said to me, "You know, if this situation keeps going the way it is we will probably have a better chance of emptying the Red Sea with a bucket with no ass in it." That would be tough to do.

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