Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes, except that the welfare package in the last budget did not meet people's needs. That is the reality of the situation. The Taoiseach can cherry-pick what he wants out of the various measures across the country or across the world, but if we are doing so well on all those measures, why are we doing so badly and why are there more than 12,000 people homeless in this country? The reality is that it could be a lot better, and that is what the Government is failing to achieve. According to Social Justice Ireland, without the social transfers the Taoiseach talks about, which, obviously, are easing the burden, 36.7% of our population would live in poverty. Surely the Taoiseach has to see that there is something wrong and not right with that. The reality is that if the State could step in properly, we could reduce those figures entirely. We do not need a homelessness crisis. We have billions of euro sitting there. It is money that has been raised and that the Government is refusing and has refused to spend - not only the windfall tax money but €10 billion in current expenditure as well - to ease the burden on people across the country. The reality is that the Government has made a decision to continue with this situation and with the housing crisis. That is why we need to see a change that will deal with people properly.

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