Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened to what the Minister had to say. I had some things that I intended to say before I came in, but I need to respond to some of the nonsense that he came out with first. As the Minister knows, the figure of €1.2 billion is not accurate. He is incorrect. In regard to dismissing things, nobody is suggesting that we dismiss Covid-19 or that supply chain issues are not there. We absolutely acknowledge those issues. The problem is that it is six or seven years since the Minister started promising housing budgets for more every year. Every year he declared victory and every year things got worse. Pardon me and pardon the public for not believing him when he says that things would have been fine except for the interruptions we had over the course of the past two years.

The housing crisis started because of the policies that were implemented by the last Fianna Fáil Government. That is a fact. They encouraged local authorities to step back from building houses. That is the truth of it. That is the origin of this. There were other factors, but that is a big part of the origin of this. Fianna Fáil came back and promised a housing budget every year but it never arrived. It still has not arrived as far as I am concerned. The Minister throws back at us that we support legislation. What is it that he wants? What exactly does he want from us? Is it to oppose everything or to support everything? We are in opposition. We are going to offer critical support for good measures where they make sense. When there is a Bill that contains good stuff and bad stuff, we will support the good stuff and we will oppose the bad stuff. That is what we are here for. That is what we are going to do. We are not going to hold back good things where they make sense. We are not going to do that.

I want to deal with the matter of objections. The Minister knows for a fact, in his heart of hearts, that where policies or proposals are on the table and people vote against them because they are unaffordable, that is different from the situation where Fianna Fáil councillors vote against social housing out of snobbery. The Minister knows that is a fact across local authorities throughout the State. In Cork City Council, Sinn Féin has never voted against social and affordable housing. Within the past two years, every Fianna Fáil councillor, including the Taoiseach's brother - and I am sure they had a conversation about it - voted against social housing on the Skehard Road. This also happened in Kanturk and in many other places. Let us be honest. The Minister talks about being honest. I know in truth where these projects are voted against, it is not out of any snobbery. It was not bouncy castles we wanted to be built on those sites; it was houses at affordable prices. When Fianna Fáil votes them down, it is out of snobbery. That is the truth.

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