Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)

I was going to start by saying there is nothing more insulting to families languishing on the housing list than the sight of an empty house. The Minister of State found a new insult when he stood up and said his policies are working. I tip my hat to him for having more faces than Clerys clock when it comes to the housing crisis. Every single one of those boarded-up houses is a constant reminder of the failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on housing. If they cared about families and children growing up in bed and breakfast accommodation, those houses would not be empty and the Minister of State would be moving heaven and earth to get people on housing lists into them.

In my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, there are 93 such properties. Every local authority has boarded-up housing because the Government simply refuses to fund them sufficiently to maintain the properties and return them to use. I have spoken to families who are sleeping in cars or living in emergency bed and breakfast accommodation or overcrowded box rooms and sitting rooms while 93 council houses are boarded up and rotting behind padlocks. I firmly believe the homeless figure is underestimated. I know of people who have presented as homeless and been refused assistance. I know families with young children who presented as homeless and were not only refused assistance but were threatened with referrals to Tusla. That is absolutely scandalous and it needs to stop.

What is happening is beyond shameful. It shows up the Government for what it truly is. It will pass the blame to anybody rather than taking responsibility for its failures. When did the Minister of State's moral compass do a 180° turn and enable him to decide this was good enough? When did he make the decision that this was good enough for the families languishing on council housing lists?

See this speech in context