Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the Minister on "Morning Ireland" today when he dismissed legitimate criticism as a stunt and repeatedly claimed he was making progress. I believe the numbers do not lie but I do not accept the Minister's numbers. The numbers tell the real and harrowing story of four families a day becoming homeless. The Minister speaks about needing to solve the housing crisis and his predecessors all said that it takes time. We have been listening to this for years.

This problem stretches way back but something that has made it much worse, and I remember the night it was introduced, is the housing assistance payment legislation. It was an attempt to outsource responsibility and reduce housing waiting lists by removing people from them. The €900 million we spend annually subsidising landlords and homelessness services is projected to increase to €1.7 billion by 2022. This is not a sustainable solution.

I listened to the Minister's numbers. We disputed in the Chamber the use of the number of ESB connections to compile housing completion figures. It is now accepted that these are not reliable.

Even if half the number of social housing units relayed by the Minister were being delivered, we would see him or the Minister of State on the news every night handing out keys to families. We are not seeing those pictures because we are not seeing delivery of those houses. It has taken a long time for the penny to drop, particularly with sections of the media, that much of what has happened here is pure spin.

This is not just down to the Minister, and I agree that this matter should not be personalised. However, not only do I not have confidence in the Minister, I do not have confidence in this Government and its approach to resolving the problem. It will not listen to alternative approaches, of which there have been many in this Chamber over recent years.

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