Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Despite the claims of the Minister of State and the Government that Housing for All is working, it is clear that it is not. Every metric we have heard today shows that it is not. The social and affordable housing targets, even with them being too low, are being missed. It is now the third year in a row they have not been met. We all know that is completely unacceptable. We must increase the amount of social and affordable housing. That is clear. We must increase those targets to at least 20,000 properties. We must fund local authorities to do that job. It is clear the private sector is not capable of doing it.

As has been said, Sinn Féin would protect renters. A message was sent to me a few minutes ago from a site that shows a room being rented with plastic sheeting as the wall. That is where we are at the moment. That is what the rental market looks like. People are so desperate they are renting anything because the only alternative is the streets. We need the ban on evictions to be extended. In all our offices we have people coming to us on a weekly basis, terrified about what they are facing at the end of March, beginning of April because they know there is nothing out there for them. It is critical the ban be extended.

I will give one caveat. I have a constituent who rented her home when she emigrated. She has come back to work in one of the areas we need people to come back to. A caveat is needed for people who return from outside the country. They must be outside the eviction ban, but the person who is in that kind of home should be given a special provision or support from the council to avoid them ending up homeless. A few caveats are needed, especially that one as it is difficult to deal with.

We need emergency legislation to deal with planning for social and affordable housing and to look at different building methods to ensure it can be done as quickly as possible. We are doing it currently. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Gorman's office is using special legislation to do that. It is something we must consider for the provision of social and affordable housing. People are angry. We see people on the streets every day. They are angry about the housing situation. They are misdirecting some of their anger because it should be directed here, at those seats opposite me. That is where the blame lies for people in homelessness and for people not being able to afford to buy or rent a home. It lies with the people who have been in power for the past two and half or three years. We have been told the housing crisis has been solved. It is clear it has not. Tens of thousands of people cannot afford anywhere to live. That must be solved and it must be done quickly.

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