Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

First, I should reassure the Taoiseach and any school staff watching that of course I was using the word "released" in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek fashion. Our schools are generally very happy places, children are generally very happy to receive an education and we have excellent school staff across the country.

On a more serious note, what I am hearing from the Taoiseach and his Government is nothing that offers any reassurance to families who wish to be realised from homelessness. That is the sad reality. The Taoiseach's Government is offering no hope to people. The Labour Party put forward the homeless families Bill eight years ago. In that time the number of children in homelessness has almost doubled and there is no sense of urgency or ambition from Government. Maybe the Taoiseach should look back at his party's past. In the 1960s Fianna Fáil ensured State intervention directly in the delivery of homes through the National Building Agency under Seán Lemass. There were lots of issues with that, but certainly there was no difficulty with having a State-led focus on delivery of homes, and that is what we in the Labour Party have called for. Let the State, through local authorities-----

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