Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

Many projects in my constituency are being opened or launched for the second election in a row. This practice should be banned. One should only open or launch something once. I do not think someone who has been on a housing list for eight years or is falling further and further from the possibility of buying a house will be relieved to hear that the Taoiseach has turned that sod.

The Government amendment and the speech of the Minister of State have not addressed the failures pointed out in the Labour Party motion. The amendment is a work of fiction. There is no action behind the words. The Minister claims credit for the output of private houses. It is as if the Government had built the houses with the developers. The Minister of State said "we are building" so many houses per year, as though the Government and the developers are a single entity.