Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To clarify, the scheme was introduced in January and the local authority in Carlow only sent out the forms in March, so in my eyes the period in question for the scheme to be examined was only three months. My point is that no scheme was in place for the previous two and a half years. We have a housing crisis. From what the Minister of State said, everything must be addressed, including the desire of people with disabilities and people on local authority waiting lists to buy their houses, but we must also make sure that people are given the chance to get a home. More than 2,500 people are on the housing waiting list in the Carlow County Council area, so it is important that housing is a priority issue and that people are given a home in which to live.