Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First of all, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan's comments on supporting the Bill and his acknowledgement of the constructive solutions Sinn Féin, in particular, Deputy Ó Broin, has been bringing forward. It is a pity other members of the Government have not recognised the solutions Sinn Féin is offering. As my colleague said, on their own they will not solve the housing crisis, but together, as part of a jigsaw, they come up with a solution.

To give the Minister of State a feel for where I am coming from, in Cork city, Airbnb showed there were 1,432 entire apartments and homes for short-term let today. On Daft, there were only 76 properties between Cork city and Cork county - the biggest county in Ireland. This goes to the heart of Deputy Ó Broin's Bill to ban short-term lets. The legislation exists. What Deputy Ó Broin has tried to do is improve the legislation by taking the burden off the local authorities and putting it where it belongs, with these companies which are profiteering.

We have a housing crisis at present with 10,000 people homeless, and the Government is talking about the market solving the problem. It is talking about the Department's housing plan. Meaning no disrespect to the Minister of State, the housing plan is in tatters.

For the second week in a row at my clinic on Monday, five families came to me about notices to quit. I have heard from more than 30 families who must be out of their homes by October. I am asking the Minister of State because I have no solutions for them. There are no houses to rent in Cork, and even if people could rent them, they could not afford them. What is the Government going to do for those families? I have a woman who must be out of a house on 6 June. Her husband works full-time and she works part-time. They have two children, one of whom has a disability. Where will she go on 7 June, because they will be homeless? That is happening under this Government's watch.

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