Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and he made clear that he is completely and utterly satisfied with himself and the Government in relation to housing. When we break down what he is satisfied with, we see he is completely satisfied with having more than 14,000 people homeless, of whom over 4,000 are children. The Minister is also completely satisfied that 13,500 adults between the ages of 18 and 44 - more than the population of Castlebar - are living at home with their parents in County Mayo. He is completely satisfied that house prices have risen by €100,000 since the Government took office and are now completely out of control, and he is completely satisfied with the commodification of houses. The Minister is completely satisfied that there are people living in cars in Mayo and that thousands of young people are forced to leave the country in order that they can live independently.

The Minister is completely satisfied that the cost of trying to build on your own land is astronomical, planning is a nightmare and families in Mayo trying to build their own homes are being crucified by rising construction costs. He is completely satisfied that families are crowded into totally unsuitable living conditions with multiple generations living on top of each other and that the Government's affordable housing scheme excludes over 75% of County Mayo or everywhere outside Castlebar and Westport. The Minister is also satisfied that children with disabilities are living in precarious accommodation from hotel room to hotel room. He is satisfied with the sky-high rents that people are paying, with people having to refuse jobs because they cannot get somewhere to live, with schools and hospitals finding it difficult because they cannot recruit staff and with Garda stations that cannot be manned because there is no accommodation nearby. The Minister is satisfied that there is no emergency accommodation in Ballina or north Mayo and that we are giving over €1 billion a year in subsidies to private landlords.

I really do not know what to say to the Minister's response. He spent months saying that Deputy Ó Broin did not give him a housing plan and when the Deputy gave him a book on it, he was still not satisfied. I am not sure whether the Minister is unable to read it or he is choosing to misinterpret it. Maybe that is a question we should ask him the next time he is before us.

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