Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I said, the party is now 13 years in government. Any fair analysis of the facts reflects record house prices, record rents and record homelessness. I do not know what world the Taoiseach lives in, but the reality I meet in communities across the State is one of crisis, stress and, in many cases, misery.

I do not think I am overstating it to say that when people live in overcrowded accommodation and are on a housing list with no real prospect of getting a house, they know that no matter what they do, they are not going to have deposit for a house they can actually afford. That is the reality. The Housing Commission is naming the Government's failure.

It says that we require a radical reset. The individuals on this commission have been critiquing Government policy for a long time. None of the ideas is new. Many of us have been telling the Government for the longest time that its housing policy has failed.

I want to ask this again. The Government established this commission. It has now landed on its verdict. The verdict is a big failure for Government policy and a call for a radical reset in housing policy. I want to know if the Taoiseach is prepared to countenance that radical reset that we need to solve what is now a social crisis.

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