Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Our job is to deliver homes for our people through various mechanisms and that is what we will do. Our focus has to be on driving down homelessness and continuing to focus on accommodation for singles. Approximately 60% of adults who are homeless are single and we do not have enough accommodation for them. That is why I put out a call this week to all local authorities - I assume the Deputy has been in contact with his own local authority on this matter - to ensure that they buy homes to put into public stock. That is being done right now. It is only three weeks into this Government and we are very focused on tackling homelessness and providing homes for those who need them most. Some 50 large families in this country have been homeless for four or five years because there is no suitable accommodation for them. We have to focus on those types of issues. I have spent the first three weeks in office meeting with people from homeless charities all over this city and county. In the next few weeks, I will be meeting people from all over the country. I am acutely aware of how important it is for us to provide homes for our people and that is what we intend to do. I say again that this will clearly be based on the principle of public homes on public land.

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