Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is it any wonder the Minister - and, by extension, the Government - is facing a vote of no confidence? The Government, with the collaboration of Fianna Fáil, has been in power for nearly three years and Fine Gael was in power with the Labour Party from 2011 to 2016. Fianna Fáil was the architect of this crisis. It is no surprise that its Deputies will abstain in the vote on this motion of no confidence. Fianna Fáil is equally complicit in this housing and homeless crisis. Through the so-called confidence and supply arrangement, it remains fully committed to this Government's failed policies, going as far as not supporting a motion which would have declared a housing emergency. Fianna Fáil has no credibility and oozes hypocrisy when it comes to housing.

The Minister cannot use the excuse of being in the job for 18 months or ask us to give him a chance. The Government has had its chance for years and it has failed. The Minister is the continuation of this failure and neglect. Under his watch, the homeless and housing crisis has worsened. He has failed to meet his own targets and commitments. He has failed to deliver affordable and social housing. He has stood over massive rent increases and unsustainable house prices. How can he justify 100,000 people being on the housing waiting lists, 10,000 people being homeless and 4,000 homeless children living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation? The number of families becoming homeless has increased by 24% since July 2017. One in three of those in emergency accommodation is a child. This homeless crisis is creating a lost generation. Children are being traumatised daily. This is one of the hidden costs of homelessness and the housing crisis. The human cost of the Minister's failures has been enormous.

How can the Minister justify the delays in redevelopment schemes? We have been waiting for 15 years for the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens, 12 years for the redevelopment of Dominick Street, five years for the redevelopment of North King Street and ten years for the redevelopment of Croke Villas. Public-private partnerships have been promised but are still on the shelf. Behind all these failures and statistics are families and children facing an uncertain and dysfunctional future. The Minister's failed policies do not only destroy futures, they destroy families and lives.

The Minister revealed his hand when he said he was opposed to the building of social housing. I come from social housing on a large-scale housing estate, as do some members of the Minister's party. The vast majority of people were born in social housing. The Minister should cop on and realise the only answer is to build more social and affordable housing.

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