Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste and I agree on one thing, which is the issue of supply. Yet, I am not hearing from him, or indeed from any Government spokesperson, any sense of urgency about tackling that chronic under-supply. Therefore, young people - such as the transition year students who are present in the Gallery, who are very welcome today and who are listening in - are getting no sense of hope that this Government will act to ensure there will be a sufficient supply of homes to meet their needs, as well as the needs of a growing population at a time when we are seeing such chronic under-supply.

The reality is that the Government's targets are just too low. I refer to its targets for house building, as well as its targets for the tenant in situ scheme. Last week, the Dublin Simon Community commented in response to that shameful figure on homelessness, stating that the targets for the tenant in situ scheme are also too low. The Government has to ensure that targets are raised to meet the real crisis level of need that it is out there, both through building new homes and through supplying greater security to renters through the tenant in situ scheme.

See this speech in context