Senators on the other side of the House regularly provide meaningless monetary statistics comparing Government expenditure in 1996 to current expenditure. We are speaking here of real people and families. Waiting lists for local authority houses have increased by 80%, while homelessness has increased by 109%. These are the plain facts. There are some 5,000 households, or over 130,000 people, on local authority waiting lists and over 5,500 are homeless. What a record for any Government to have, especially this Government after witnessing a period of unprecedented economic growth. It seems the Celtic tiger years have passed by some sections of society. They have seen their lot disimprove, in stark contrast to the Punchestown set and the wealthy, who have benefited most from the right-wing policies of this Government.