Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I did not say no one could afford a home but that only those on the highest incomes can do so. I am not judging the Minister on one year in government but on 12 years of Fine Gael Governments. He was Minister for housing during that time. The criticisms of the Government’s housing delivery are not just coming from the Social Democrats and other Opposition parties; they are coming from business groups. The Minister saying they have confidence in housing policy does not make it true. They are looking at the Government’s broken promises year after year. It did not reach 40% of its affordable housing target. Each and every one of them has said housing is the biggest challenge they face. The disaster we are dealing with is the cumulative result of more than a decade of Fine Gael failure in housing and there are no signs of that situation improving.

Since Fianna Fáil and the Green Party joined Fine Gael in government, it cannot even do the bare minimum, which is spending its budget. More than €1 billion was left unspent during the worst housing disaster in the history of the State. Meanwhile, there are more than 100,000 vacant homes across the country and the Government refused to adopt the Social Democrats’ motion this morning to introduce a punitive tax on those homes and help to bring them back to use. I do not think there is anyone left in the country who has faith in the Government's housing policy. The Minister saying business groups have faith in it does not make it true. How can they?

See this speech in context