Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all those who took part in the cross-party Raise the Roof motion on the housing crisis. I also thank all those who took part in the Raise the Roof protest at the Dáil tonight. There will also be a Raise the Roof rally in Cork city on 21 June at 2 p.m. and CATU will have a national housing demonstration on 5 July in Dublin. We urge people to come out and support them.

Having listened to the speeches during the debate tonight, especially from the Government and those who sit on the Government benches, we get the impression things are okay and there is no emergency crisis in housing. The Government is living in a parallel universe quite different from the reality I have experienced in my office and in the community. Never have I seen such desperation and despair, with people and families regularly being made homeless, uprooted and spread across Dublin and elsewhere.

Did the Government never ask itself why this was happening? Did it never ask why the housing and homeless figures were continually rising, why people were not able to find a rental property, now costing over €2,000 and €3,000 a month in Dublin, why people were struggling to buy their own homes and why landlords were looking to get their properties back? The reality is this Government has failed to deliver enough social and affordable housing, even missing the low targets set out in its own programme for Government. Its overreliance on the private sector and support for vulture funds has added to the cost of housing. The average price of housing in Dublin is over €450,000, while the average nationally is €360,000 and rising. People are leaving this country mainly because of the cost of housing, whether for purchase or rental. The local authorities should be the main drivers of delivering social and affordable housing and should be financed accordingly. It is time the Government listened to the people and not bury its head in the sand with its failed policies.

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