Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

You can never recover a childhood. Families with young children are living in hotel accommodation. They include children who are attending primary and secondary school. Our commitment to give them the housing and accommodation they need is genuine. That is the reason we made additional funds available towards the end of 2017 to tackle this and other matters.

The Deputy made reference to a dramatic intervention. I have dealt with this issue on a constituency level for many years and the experience has given me an appreciation of the difficulties caused, especially when one arrives at a home in the constituency to see all of the generations living under the same roof. Would a sudden intervention make a big difference? I am concerned that it might not. The way to make a difference is the way we have tackled other problems in the State to try to improve week after week and month after month where we stand. There is urgency and we will continue to support the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, through anything we can do to tackle what is the burning issue in the country.

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