Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State will be familiar with clinics. I am sure he knows they can be difficult. There can be all sorts of difficult cases, whether it is social welfare or issues of health and housing. One of the most frustrating and difficult clinic appointments we have is with people who are not able to qualify for social housing. There is nothing for them. We have a conversation with them, try to think of things we can do for them but there is pretty much nothing we can do. Many of these people are the same age as me. They are friends and people I grew up with who are locked out of ever having any hope of having a permanent home. For some of them who qualify for social housing, it has its own challenges. They do not know what they will do for the next five or six years until they get an offer. For those who do not qualify, some of whom would have been disqualified because of income thresholds over the past couple of years, there is very little I or any public representative can say to assist them. That is a very frustrating place to be.

There is very little hope things are getting better. I am not around here a million years, but I am here seven years and in that seven years, things have got worse. House prices and rent have gone up and homelessness is going up. By every metric, the situation continues to get worse. The Minister of State's party has been in government for all this time. Even in terms of what they bring forward now, the targets are miserable and pathetic. There is a target for Cork city of 378 affordable houses in the next half decade. That is less than 100 houses per year, for a city of 250,000, with all these people who do not qualify for social housing and have no hope. They would be absolutely laughed out of the commercial banks in trying to get a mortgage. Even if they are approved, how far will they have to look and what will they be able to find? It is an impossible situation for people. Like Deputy Ó Broinsaid, it crystal clear this Government will not solve the housing crisis. It is hard to take it seriously. The targets are totally inadequate. The failure is astounding. Workers and families pay a very heavy price to try to secure a roof over their heads. The people of my city and this country deserve a Government with the ambition, energy and policies to fix housing. That is what Sinn Féin and other like-minded parties intend to do.

See this speech in context