Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. As this is my first time speaking in the Dáil, I would like to take a moment just to thank my family, my ma and my da and my three brothers, the Fingal Labour Party branches and my friends who helped me to campaign during the recent election to get here. Most importantly, I thank the good people of Dublin Fingal West who have put their trust in me for the duration of this term to advocate on their behalf for the essential services they need. Fingal is the youngest and fastest growing area in the country. As a result of this pressure, sadly, my area is not able to deliver the services needed for the people there. Again this morning, the 33 bus was stretched beyond capacity when it came to Lusk. We need to look at additional capacity for the services. However, unsurprisingly, the provision of housing is the number one issue in my constituency and for my generation. Policy is failing making homeownership unobtainable for a generation of young adults now stuck in their childhood bedrooms or pushed into exorbitant and unsustainable rents, hemmed in like boars between archers. It is a policy that has delivered record numbers of homelessness. We are aware that the figures for homelessness are significantly higher than those reported. We do not take into account women and children who are in domestic violence refuges, individuals accessing homeless services not provided by the State, people in direct provision, people couch-surfing or relying on the kindness of family and friends. Homelessness is traumatic for anybody who experiences it, but the 4,600 children in this situation will be living that trauma for the rest of their lives.

In the Labour Party, we are aware that there is no silver bullet to solve this problem. I am sure everyone has heard the same stories from builders around the country where in the sector we continue not to have enough workers. This is going to impact the delivery of numbers at the end of next year. We need to grow the construction workforce and start with a wage for craft apprentices. I urge the Government to consider this proposal seriously.

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