Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to let Deputy Pringle know, though he will probably hear later, that our motion applies to rural and urban areas. It applies to all 31 local authorities. We are looking for a major investment of money and additional staff to deal with housing maintenance issues.

No disrespect to the Minister of State, but his response and those of the other Ministers earlier show the reality of how out of touch they and the Government are with people who live in local authority houses and with the issues we are dealing with every day. I assume the Minister of State is out on the canvass. Every time we go canvassing, after getting people social, affordable or cost-rental housing, the next issue is maintenance. There are flats in Cork city that are split level maisonettes that were built in the middle of the last century on Noonan's Road, Cattle Market Avenue, Baker's Road and Clashduv Road. These are just examples. Residents in Noonan's Road had to launch a campaign. The conditions they were living in were atrocious. It is not only Sinn Féin or them who are saying it. The Cork City Council manager came to look and she could not believe the conditions people were living in. They are fighting a campaign. Another group of people in Glentransna, led by Christa Daley, one of our local election candidates, are campaigning about the condition of their houses. I do not want to criticise Cork City Council. It has a limited budget. The staff tell me that they do not have the money or staff to do the work. People are crying out.

Reference was made to the effect all of this is having on people's health. It is devastating. Children and older people especially are developing chronic asthma, COPD and other lung conditions. A two-year old child, Awaab Ishak, died in 2020 in England. It was eventually stated that this was due to the mould that got into his lungs. Children in our local authority houses are looking at that kind of mould every day of the week. I showed some photographs to the Minister earlier. The Government is shrugging its shoulders. It has a legal responsibility.

The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, stated that the Government is moving from being reactive to proactive. It will take ten years at current funding levels to do what is needed. Even then, I do not know whether the Government will get there. It is too little too late. Let us be honest. The Green Party has been in government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for four years. They are the cause of the problem. They decimated local authorities after the financial crash with an embargo on employment and by cutting funding for local authorities. Local authorities are now working with skeleton crews. People are living in damp, draughty houses and spending every penny they have trying to keep them warm. They are trying to look after their children, and the Government is saying that Sinn Féin does not recognise what it has done. Is that it? We are not giving the Government a clap on the back. Will the Minister of State come down to Cork, go to Dublin or Mayo or anywhere and meet the families who are living in these conditions? He should stop looking for a pat on the back and come out and meet people because they are suffering. These are the facts. The Minister of State spoke about retrofitting 146,000 houses, 36,000 with a BER of B2 or better and another 36,000 to be done by 2030. The Government cannot reach that figure. Is the Government going to reach that target, because 2,400 per year will not get us there?

What about the other 70,000 odd people who are living in social housing? Where are they supposed to go? What about their children? There is an election at the moment for local authorities. People are asking these questions at the door. They want to know that if they vote for councillors in nine days time, can they deliver. We are saying that with a Sinn Féin Government and Sinn Féin-led local authorities, we will deliver for people in social housing. The Minister of State is talking about what the Government is doing. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have decimated local authorities. I feel sorry for officials who have tried to cover up the neglect of 13 years of Fine Gael and eight years of Fianna Fáil because they were the people who wrecked this country in the financial crash and the Green Party is propping them up.

There is a man, Finbar, who has had a stroke. He was in Mallow but he is back home and looking to go to suitable accommodation. He was offered a house nine doors down the road in the same block. How is he going to get into Mallow? How is he going to see his GP? How is he going to get his physiotherapy? He does not drive. He does not have a family. I know another lady. She is a victim of institutional abuse, savage abuse, and she has given accounts of it to the Oireachtas here. She cannot get accommodation. This is a lady who has been a victim and a survivor. Where is this Government for these people?

A lady contacted me last night from The Glen. In January there was a storm which broke the hinges in two of her windows upstairs. She has them tied on since January. What is she doing now? She is paying a man to fix them on Friday because Cork City Council does not have the money to do the work. It is a shame.

See this speech in context