Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach is wrong in the backdrop he has suggested.

The Taoiseach and the Government made many announcements of various schemes and the media were fair to them because they reported those announcements faithfully. Some 800 units were to be delivered under the repair and leasing scheme at the beginning of 2017 and zero have been delivered. Some 1,500 houses were to be built under the rapid build scheme by the end of 2018. The delivery to date has been 208. The National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, was due to deliver 6,946 units and only 2,400 were delivered. There was an affordable homes target of 400 by the end of 2018 and zero have been delivered. There has been an affordable rent scheme of €10 million promised since 2015 and zero has been delivered. The home building finance Ireland scheme was announced 12 months ago in the budget and was faithfully and fairly reported by the media. What happened? Legislation to establish the body has yet to pass the Oireachtas. We can go on and on with various announcements of the Government. That is the backdrop. Why has there been a failure to deliver?

The Taoiseach should not get annoyed with commentators and the Opposition if they point out that there has been a clear failure to deliver the necessary housing to get the children I referred to out of emergency accommodation. It is a blight on our society and the Taoiseach does not care enough about it. We have too much spin. That is why we railed against the strategic communications unit because that was about spin over substance and we need substance in delivering houses for children who need it for their proper development and growth in our society into the future.

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