Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The fact that the Taoiseach is not able to answer my question underlines the case I made, which is that the Government does not believe there is an emergency in the context of homelessness. This is the second week in a row the Taoiseach has not been able to answer a question. Last week, I asked about services for citizens with mental health problems. The figures I gave him are absolutely up to date. In the past year the Government was offered 1,800 homes. Fact. It only took up 600 of them. Fact. I asserted that over 8,000 people are homeless and that 3,194 of them are children. There are 300 more children in emergency accommodation than there were when Deputy Varadkar became Taoiseach. The situation has not got better, it has become worse. Can the Taoiseach explain to the Dáil why the Government is purchasing only 600 of the 1,800 homes on offer? If he cannot do it now, will he make a point of coming back into the House to do so? Can he also explain why it has taken so long for the Government to allocate to families the homes it has bought?

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