Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister should not tell us we are against the Land Development Agency. We do not want the Land Development Agency to just flip public land, however; we want it to use the land in a way that delivers affordable housing.

If a person came down from the moon and looked at what happened prior to the crash, and the role of Fianna Fáil, which was the architect of that crash, he or she would see the same reference points in the current situation. The Minister is using the same reference points to create another housing environment that is completely unsustainable. The public does not have confidence in the Minister. That was shown in the poll published earlier in the week. He would know the public does not have confidence in him if he listened to some of the radio programmes on which people who are likely to end up homeless are talking about their lived experience of being terrified and thinking this should not happen to them. I have recognised that and been talking about this since 2014 when the like of the housing assistance payment, HAP, was brought in. I said that if it was not accompanied by large-scale direct build, it would be a bonanza for landlords. That is exactly what has happened. Close to €1 billion a year is being used for things like the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, HAP and rent supplement.

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