Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleague, Senator Bacik, I welcome the announcement of the availability of €300 million, co-funded by the European Investment Bank and the Housing Finance Agency, to the voluntary housing sector for the delivery of approximately 2,000 additional units. We all will be aware of the difficult situation we are in at present, with almost 90,000 households on the housing waiting list. It is something the Government inherited. I am not trying to say it was entirely the previous Government's problem; of course it was not. We faced a major international financial crisis. We are turning the corner on that crisis, and it is good to see - particularly for the voluntary housing association sector, which has had difficulty in accessing finance - that it will be an important pillar in the social housing strategy. The voluntary housing association sector, notably organisations such as Clúid, which was involved in this announcement today, is active in the local community. My colleague Senator Paul Coghlan would be happy to know that this announcement was made in Killarney Court, which is in Dublin but is named after his town of origin. It is good news and I believe it would be welcomed by both sides of the House. It is one step on the way towards the recovery of social housing in this country.