Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The housing disaster is taking a wrecking ball to the lives of tens of thousands of people across the country. The Taoiseach's responsibility is not simply to stand up in the Dáil and announce notional billions in spending on housing and then blame local authorities for a lack of delivery. His responsibility is to make sure the budget is spent in order to deliver the homes people desperately need.

I will give the Taoiseach some context. After more than a decade of Fine Gael being in office, homelessness and rents are at record levels. The number of people in their 20s and 30s stuck in their childhood bedrooms is at record levels. Homeownership rates have fallen to their lowest level in more than 50 years, yet somehow the Government is incapable of spending the housing budget in the middle of this housing disaster. Instead, it is coming up with more and more schemes to ensure the housing budget is allocated in the forms of subsidies and handouts for developers. I again ask the Taoiseach how, in the middle of a housing disaster, he can possibly justify leaving so much money unspent in the housing budget. Has a proper analysis been carried out as to why this has happened?

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