Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This Government has made a commitment to increase social housing stock. Last month, Sinn Féin councillors voted to delay 19 new-build social homes in Clondalkin by a month. The party's national housing spokesperson said this was because 19 homes were not enough. Locally, however, Sinn Féin was saying the opposite. This week, Sinn Féin councillors proposed to reduce that same plan further from 19 homes to 14. The original plan for this site was 28 social homes, so Sinn Féin wanted a 50% reduction. Sinn Féin's housing strategy locally is very different to what it is saying nationally. Maybe it is not a housing strategy at all but a political strategy. Maybe the Sinn Féin approach to housing is simply to keep the housing crisis on the political agenda. Now we are in level 5, will the Tánaiste confirm that social housing projects across the country will continue during this lockdown?

See this speech in context