Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to reading it in detail. Obviously, the Minister of State will not say to me on the floor of the Dáil that he took his eye off the ball. I am aware he will not do that and that he is trying to fix the issue, but how did we get to this point where he is saying the number was more than 8,000 at the end of September? The response I got was from the start of September. This is really important. I know the Minister of State knows that but the eye has to have been taken off the ball. I do not see what else could have happened leading to so many people waiting. When we talk of increasing capacity in housing, the first thing the Government constantly says is we need workers who are able to do it. We have people who want to do it but cannot. They cannot access the training they need to complete their apprenticeships. I do not see how the Minister of State can say he did not take his eye off the ball.

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