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

The Government's targets for Cork city are to build 394 social houses and 76 affordable houses annually. This shows us the lack of imagination, leadership and understanding of the Government, and especially the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, regarding this challenge. I refer to the number of people evicted and served with notices to quit, and the thousands of people on our housing lists in Cork who cannot rent or buy accommodation, and then the Minister's solutions.

Housing for All has completely failed. We have a Minister who has also completely failed with his plan. It took him a year to pick out the plan and it does not work. Just to give people an idea of the situation, there is much talk about social housing income thresholds and those limits. The Government is keeping them at the current levels because it knows the figures would go up by tens of thousands of people if they were to keep pace with inflation. We have people, such as bus drivers and other ordinary working people, who would have been entitled to go on the social housing lists, but if those people do any bit of good for themselves, they will be taken off. These are facts.

Approximately 20 minutes ago, I spoke to a man who is homeless tonight in Cork city. Paul is his first name, and I will not use his second name because I respect his dignity too much. His two options were to go to Cork Simon or to the city's St. Vincent's Hostel. Those were his only two choices. This man worked all his life. He did everything. His landlord sold his property to an investment firm because it was going to turn it into a complex. He has now been in emergency housing accommodation for more than a year and a half. Furthermore, I had to phone Anglesea Street Garda station last week to get gardaí to come out to a house to stop an illegal eviction. That is what I had to do last week. I thanked the Chief Superintendent for the work the Garda did, and I also commend the Community Tenants Action Union, CATU, and its volunteers who came and stood with the person concerned.

We are in a crisis in housing like none experienced before. What this Government has given us are the highest rents ever, the highest house prices ever and the highest homeless figures ever in the history of the State, especially when it comes to children, and now ordinary people cannot afford to buy or rent a property.

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