Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The level of respect that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Regional Independent Group have for people on the housing waiting lists throughout the country is stark to those of us on this side of the House when the benches opposite remain empty and we have one Minister sitting here. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should be ashamed of themselves. Cabinet meeting or no Cabinet meeting, the motion brought forward by the Labour Party is one of integrity and respect for the people we meet every single day of the week. The benches opposite speak volumes to the people we represent.

This is the issue of our time and for our generation of politicians. I am 24 years old, and one of the 70% of 25-year-olds living at home with their parents. Every single day, numerous calls, messages and e-mails come in to my office from genuine people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. I met a family in Togher, County Cork, during the recent local election campaign. There are three kids living with their parents, each with a child of their own in a three-bedroom house. There are eight people in a three-bedroom house. The woman stood at the doorstep crying to me. What would the Minister of State say to her?

An elderly couple live ten doors down from me in Mallow. They have rented their house for over 15 years. The landlord informed them that he wishes to sell the house and was more than willing to use the tenant in situ scheme. However, after months of the local authority dragging its heels and ignoring him, the landlord made the decision to sell the house privately. What would the Minister of State say to this elderly couple?

I want to put on the record of the Dáil a figure that I cannot get out of my head. In more than nine years, Cork County Council has sold 99 homes through the tenant in situ scheme. That is an unbelievable and stark figure, pathetic actually. The Government's poor delivery of and weak commitment to this scheme has resulted in landlords having little or no confidence in it. The Labour Party wants to introduce monthly reporting by each local authority on the tenant in situ scheme, with adequate reasons outlined as to why the purchase of rental property did not proceed. Accountability is neither here nor there. Nobody is taking ownership for failed action under the tenant in situ scheme.

When a person calls to my door at home or at my office who is willing and in a position to rent a home, I have to tell that person to walk through the main street and call to every local auctioneer on the main street to try to rent a property. That is unbelievable. On daft.ie this morning, there is not one single home in Mallow to rent. What does that tell me? It tells me the Government has failed on renters' rights.

A development in Kerry Pike in County Cork was promised a crèche by private developers. People paid over €500,000 for their home based on a pretence that they would be able to access early years education on their doorstep. That crèche never came. Lies, again, by the private developers. These commitments must be seen in the first phase of developments instead of the last.

In 2023, one in seven children lived in households that were below the poverty line, with over 264,000 children living in households experiencing deprivation. The homelessness figure has exceeded 15,000 people. We, in the Labour Party, have consistently brought legislation and motions to Government to meaningfully tackle these figures. The Government needs to enact radical, meaningful change. We are throwing genuine people to the dogs when it comes to housing.

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