Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)

I appreciate the Minister of State's commitment to this area and I do not doubt his sincerity but, like every single occupant of his office before him, he has been sent out with prepared remarks to defend the indefensible. He and this Government unfailingly refuse to reckon with the enormity of the problem in housing. The Government is tinkering around the edges of failed policies while the situation deteriorates even further, leaving in its wake a litany of shattered dreams for individuals and their families who want nothing more than security and a safe place to call home. Can we call building 500 homes in four years, which was the figure the Minister of State just cited, a success? The longer this goes on, with more and more people in these precarious housing situations, the greater the chance that the vicissitudes of life, such as a cancer diagnosis, bereavement or loss of income, will come at the same time as an eviction notice, a rent hike or another hair-brained Government policy that only makes life more difficult, more stressful and devastating for my constituents and their reasonable desires for a dignified life.

As all these problems continue to compound, there will be multiple generations for whom it will be too late as they will find themselves either unable to retire or being turfed out onto the street. When will this Government wake up and come to terms with the fact that what is required now are 1930s and 1940s levels of public investment and State-led development on a massive scale? We need to reject the neoliberal developer-led model this Government has an addiction to.

We often hear about how our ageing population is creating a timebomb in our pensions system but the failures in housing policy have become so entrenched that the current Cabinet, like every previous Cabinet, has lit the fuse early for those without a home. We now have several cohorts ageing through the crisis, missing every milestone on the road to housing and long-term financial security, and this Government is failing them completely. It seems no matter who you are or what your story is, there is no escaping this crisis. Nobody is safe from this Government's housing policy, even the elderly and the Minister of State's party's voters. It will fall to parties like mine to clean up this mess.

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