Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As previous speakers said, ending the housing crisis is about not just building new homes but also maintaining the housing stock we have. Every Deputy will give examples of what is happening in his or her constituency. We heard about black mould, which is common enough. We tried to get our local authority to use the county architect scheme to get people to come together and bring in their expertise. Dampness can be created when houses are being built but overcrowding is also a reason for black mould. We are not doing enough. That is the key message we are giving tonight.

I will give one example that relates to a vacant home. On 1 September 2001, there was a fire in Tallaght where a young 12-year-old child was murdered. The local authority gave a commitment afterwards that it would refurbish a shop unit and turn it into houses. That was 23 years ago and work on those houses has still not begun. There is talk of naming a couple of buildings after the child who died but this occurred 23 years ago. That is just one example of what is going on.

I will also give an example of the challenges faced by people who have medical issues. Sean Byrne, a friend of mine who was involved in estate management, was looking for a ramp to be put into his house, which is a simple thing. This man had worked with the council for about 30 years in estate management helping on a voluntary basis, yet he could not get a ramp put outside his house. To make a long story short, he died before he could get it done. There are many cases like that of Sean Byrne. I know of another man in a similar situation. He needs to get his bathroom moved to get a shower unit installed but he cannot get it done. We need to do more. That is what the motion is about.

See this speech in context