Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have been campaigning on the Shanganagh site, which the Minister will open tomorrow, for 18 years. It has taken us 18 years to develop a public site to deliver 600 social and affordable houses. At that rate, we are facing a grim and long housing crisis. By the way, we still do not know what the price of the affordable housing there will be. There will be 200 social houses. There are approximately 5,000 families on the housing list in our area who have been waiting for 15 to 20 years. Many of the people in the cost-rental bracket who have been thrown off the housing list because their income is above the threshold will not qualify for cost-rental schemes because their income is not high enough and they will be left high and dry.

The Minister did not provide an answer about the people I mentioned who are older, sick, vulnerable people. The only thing being offered to those who live in Dún Laoghaire is to go to dormitory or hostel accommodation in Dublin city centre and they will not go.

They are terrified. They are too sick for that. That is why they are sleeping in cars and couch surfing. They need something in their local area.

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