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

It is impossible to vote confidence in this Government based on any objective analysis of its performance to date. This is a Government that is happy to acknowledge the vast number of people enduring serious financial pressure from an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, yet it has consistently refused to introduce an emergency budget to provide workers and their families with interim relief in advance of the budget in the autumn. The Government is also blind to the havoc it is causing in housing, which has long morphed from a crisis into a disaster. One of the most basic requirements of any functioning society is the provision of secure and affordable housing. It is supposed to be the biggest priority for the Government, but it is also its biggest failure. The housing crisis did not happen by accident. It was caused by a collection of policy choices by successive Governments, all of which have included Fine Gael.

It is now, as I said, a housing disaster. We are told that record amounts are being spent and we have been told, and repeatedly told, about the €4 billion. Let us, however, have a look at this figure. When we take out the housing assistance payment, HAP, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, the financial cost of homelessness-----

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