Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In recent weeks we have seen queues of hundreds of people, renters, who have been going for viewings. We have had reports of a student being asked for intimate photographs from a landlord. We have had students who cannot find anywhere to live who are sleeping rough. We have had a homeless woman who is sleeping in her car on a beach and having to wash in the sea as she has nowhere else to wash. Our rents are among the highest in Europe. House prices have surpassed the Celtic tiger peak, according to data released by the CSO today. Homelessness has reached record levels. There are more people living in emergency accommodation now than at any other point in the history of the State. Young people who have skills that we desperately need are being forced to emigrate. After failing to come even close to meeting any of the Government’s housing targets last year, the Taoiseach promised that this year would be a year for delivery. Instead, and this is not mentioned in the areas of the report dealing with housing, the capital spend on housing at this year is actually 21% lower than it was at the same time last year. This means that none of the targets on delivering social, affordable or cost-rental homes will be met. I want to ask the Taoiseach why the Government is failing to meet any of the targets that it is setting itself in terms of housing. What is it doing to urgently address this? What emergency action will it take to ensure that people can get the housing that they desperately need?

See this speech in context