Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is in the midst of a severe housing crisis, with the political establishment seemingly incapable of delivering on housing need. The homeless population now exceeds 13,000 and is growing rapidly, yet nothing substantial is being done to reduce the number. The Government's flagship strategy, Housing for All, has goals that include increasing housing affordability and reducing homelessness; however, after almost four years of its being implemented, the vast majority of people with core housing needs are not benefiting from the Government's programmes.

I hold constituency clinics every weekend in places from Castletownbere to Kinsale and all the areas in between. People come in day in and day out, week in and week out, begging me to fight for a house for them. There is something wrong with the system as a consequence. People say they are 15 years on the housing list. Imagine hearing that from people. What answer am I to give them? It is impossible to give them answers. Whether it is in Clonakilty, Skibbereen or Bantry, it does not matter; it is the same story everywhere I go. People say they have been waiting for ten years, nine years, seven years or 14 years. It is not good enough and there has been no answer. There has been no answer to date from the Government, only further crises.

There are planning issues in my part of the country. A young man came to my clinic in Clonakilty the other day. He is from somewhere not far from that area. He is a young man with a baby and partner who wants to start off in life, but he has continually been refused planning permission for ridiculous reasons. I would not mind if the refusals concerned a building that was structurally inappropriate, for example, but the reasons are ridiculous, namely that the building should be moved so many feet east or so many feet west. In the name of God, would someone use a bit of common sense? There are planning regulators and others against the system. It is no wonder people are running out of this country. They are emigrating to get the hell out of here because they know there is no future here.

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