Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I see the Minister of State got the short straw again this evening. It seems to be a common thread. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is missing every time I talk about housing. The dogs in the street know the Government is presiding over a crisis in housing. Whether we call it an emergency, a crisis, a mess or a disaster, it all adds up to the same thing. In the words of President Higgins when he spoke in Kildare earlier this year, it is the greatest failure. I have met with the county councils in Kildare and Laois on a number of occasions. Kildare County Council appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage this afternoon. In the past, I have been told that the decisions on funding have been slow and that there is a lack of certainty regarding funding schemes. The director of housing in Kildare County Council told the committee today that she was not sure if a scheme to allow the purchase of houses with HAP in situ will continue into next year. This is simply not good enough.

Behind all the statistics are real people who are suffering because of the failure of successive Governments to work in favour of ordinary workers and families instead of vulture funds and vested interests. In the space of a couple of hours last Friday, three women contacted my office in tears because their prospect of having a safe, secure and decent-quality roof over their heads is a faraway dream. One of the ladies is living in a small attic space with her husband and child. Another has not seen her children for five weeks because they stay with her ex-partner and she has nowhere to live. She has lived in Ireland for over two decades but had to return to her parents' home in Great Britain as an alternative to sleeping rough. The last lady who called is living in a substandard rented home, her husband is seriously ill and the conditions in the accommodation are making his illness worse. This is what we are dealing with day in, day out. Three women at breaking point in extremely stressful situations contacted me within three hours. Their mental health is suffering greatly. This Government must look beyond the numbers and focus on people. The people in the eye of the storm know that this is an emergency. It is time for the Government to wake up and put a credible plan in place to alleviate the suffering.

Homes should be built for need, not for greed. We in Sinn Féin are at the coalface and know how bad things are. We have solutions. In government, we will deliver 20,000 public homes to meet social and affordable housing needs.

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