Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The delivery of social housing is happening far too slowly. I have some examples of individual cases, although I am sure the Minister has dealt with similar cases. A couple with a seven year old child, sharing a house with their parents and four siblings, one of whom is a 15 year old boy with brain cancer, have been on the list for eight and a half years. A single mother and her children, all of whom live with her parents, constituting eight people living in a two-bedroom bungalow, have been on the list for eight years. In the Tánaiste's home town, a single mother with five children has been on the list for 12 years. She sleeps on the couch and rents a property for €1,000 per month, despite earning only €275 per week.

The Tánaiste spoke about short-term and long-term solutions. When Sinn Féin spoke about a housing crisis in 2011, 2012 and 2013, however, the Government did not want to know. We are not suggesting that the Government is doing nothing now, although it is not doing remotely enough, but rather that it was doing nothing then. That is why we are in this position.

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