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

I am not interested in self-congratulation or in any congratulation. I have raised with the Taoiseach the real experiences of people who cannot get a house and who do not have a home. I raise with the Taoiseach the scenario where children will wait for Santa Claus in bed and breakfasts, in hotels and in family hubs. I raise with the Taoiseach a situation where people live in the box-rooms of their parents' homes, including - in cases I know of - children with very severe health conditions and significant disabilities, some of whom are waiting for surgeries. I have raised with the Taoiseach the reality of what is a human misery, and I raise the fact that an entire generation of our people have no real hope that they will ever own their own homes. Those same people understand that they will struggle from month to month just to make the rent. The Taoiseach has failed again to address those realities. If the Taoiseach was to admit out loud that these things are rife across our society then he could land on no conclusion other than his policy is failing, that we need a change in policy and that we need a change in Minister. That is the logical outcome of the reality we face. I will put the question to the Taoiseach again. The Government's housing policy has failed. This is manifestly the case. We need a change in policy and a change in Minister. When will the Taoiseach deliver that?

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