Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I can only surmise that the Taoiseach is delusional. It is the only conclusion I can arrive at. He seems to believe that everything is okay and that he is on track despite the facts. It is not opinion or speculation but a fact that homelessness has risen and that house prices and rents are out of control and beyond the reach even of people at work. The Taoiseach seems to be entirely immune to the fact that people are now taking to the streets and taking direct action to give voice to the anger and desperation they feel. The Government's plans are not working. The Minister has failed and is failing in his duty to the tens of thousands of people on housing lists and to the 10,000 people who are homeless. He is failing the children I referred to earlier who will sleep tonight and the next night and the night after that in emergency accommodation.

We make no claim to have a monopoly on empathy but on these benches we have plenty of exposure to those families and their very real and desperate experiences yet the Government is immune to them. The Taoiseach is delusional because he stands up as Head of Government and claims his plan is working and Fianna Fáil assists the Government in that regard.

The Taoiseach has failed, his Minister is failing and the desperate people with real stories who came out at the weekend want an answer from the Taoiseach and they want somebody held to account. I suggest to the Taoiseach that the person to be held to account in the first instance is the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy.

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