Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)

The housing emergency is the biggest challenge facing people in Ireland today. There is no leadership or strategy from the Government. Its response has been flip-flopping, chaos and confusion. This has a direct impact on public services with teachers, gardaí, firefighters and nurses unable to afford rent and unable to get a mortgage. It is time for this Government to wake up to the damage its policies are doing to our communities. My office in Fingal East is inundated with housing queries. Every day, I deal with people languishing on housing lists, families in overcrowded conditions and those constantly living with the threat of no-fault eviction. I am dealing with a family of six in a two-bed duplex in Swords who have been on the housing list for 24 years and a senior citizen living in Malahide looking for a transfer due to serious antisocial behaviour. He has been on a transfer list for two years but Fingal County Council has nowhere to move him to. I am also dealing with a 71-year-old man renting in Portmarnock who worked for 50 years, retired last year and can no longer afford the rent. He told me it is either rent, food or heat - he cannot do all three. I am also familiar with a woman living in Donabate with her severely autistic child who cannot get housing despite being on the housing list for ten years. These are just a couple of examples. The Government's decision to cut funding for the tenant in situ scheme has made things worse. This scheme was a homelessness prevention tool. Now, families do not know where they will go once their notice to quit has run out. It is shameful when there are 2,500 vacant council homes in the State. In Fingal alone, 126 council properties lie vacant. There is growing anger and frustration with the Government which has abandoned communities and failed to deliver on every housing promise. People will bring that anger to the gates of the Dáil. I call on members of the public, unions and housing groups to support the Raise the Roof rally on Tuesday, 17 June at 6 p.m. outside Leinster House to stand up and fight back. It is time for this Government to listen to people.

See this speech in context