Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am proud and humbled to stand and speak in Leinster House tonight. The housing crisis was the number one issue that came up at the doors right across the Dublin Mid-West in the recent by-election campaign. As we have heard, homeless figures have increased again.

The normalisation of this housing crisis is not normal. It is not normal for our family, friends, neighbours and fellow citizens not to have a safe and secure roof over their heads tonight. It is not normal for almost 4,000 children to spend another Christmas in a hub, a bed and breakfast or a hotel as temporary accommodation. It is not normal for adult children to be living in the back bedrooms of their parents' homes with their own children because they cannot afford the spiralling rents. It is not normal for three generations of one family to be living under the same roof. It is not normal for the residents I spoke to in Dublin Mid-West to be left waiting for the introduction of a real affordable housing scheme in order that they can put down roots in their communities. It is not normal for the continued failed policy of the Government to rely on the private market to supply public housing.

I thank the people of Dublin Mid-West for giving me a very clear mandate tonight. The Minister's housing policies have failed and his term as Minister must come to an end. I do not know if the two new Fianna Fáil Deputies who joined me in the House today are here tonight but I have a message for them. They did not get elected to sit on their hands. While replacing one failed Fine Gael Minister with another failed Fine Gael Minister will not resolve the housing crisis, it will send a very clear message that this House has not just listened to those affected by the housing crisis but that we have acted. I urge everyone to support a vote of no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. That would be normal.

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