Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will put straight questions to Deputy McDonald. Why does she continue to oppose housing projects? Why does she continue to oppose schemes and initiatives that would give young people an opportunity to own their own homes? You keep on opposing such initiatives and undermining them all the time. There is complete incoherence and inconsistency in the Deputy's approach to housing. She ignores the fact that this year the allocation for social housing was the largest ever. Over €3.3 billion is being allocated to housing this year with a suite of measures being introduced. Homelessness is a priority for this Government. The number of people in emergency accommodation has fallen by 19% in the past year. The number in family homelessness has decreased by almost 42%. We need to do more. Homelessness is a blight on society and we need more supply. We need to match urgency of action with the rhetoric that we consistently hear. I do not think, at times, Sinn Féin matches urgency of action with rhetoric when it comes to getting housing projects off the ground.

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