Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the very near future, not necessarily in the next week, I would like a debate on housing. While I will not rehash all the arguments from the debate in the Dáil yesterday, what we can say is that we have 31 local authorities, 10,000 people in emergency housing, 3,600 of whom are children, and more than 100,000 people on housing waiting lists. That is one side of the problem. The other side is that we have thousands of people who cannot afford either to purchase or rent a home. Many of them are working and they include couples with combined incomes who still cannot afford to purchase or rent. The issue is to increase the supply and have affordability, whether purchasing or renting. We should have a debate on that in the House.

I bring up the issue raised by Independent Deputy Tommy Broughan when he questioned the Minister, Deputy Zappone, in the Dáil last week, namely, the confirmation by Tusla that there are in excess of 900 vacancies within the organisation and it is spending €2.5 million a month on average to bring in locums and various other people to supplement its staff. That is a frightening figure. I am very supportive of the Minister, Deputy Zappone, her work and her commitment to reform Tusla, which is an organisation we all know needs reform. Will the Leader ask the Minister to look again at all of that and to come back to the House at some stage? We might have statements on Tusla, although not just on the bigger picture, given Tusla is such a big organisation, but also in regard to resources and the 900 vacancies that the Minister confirmed to the Lower House. A number of county and city councillors have contacted me about pyrite, the Pyrite Resolution Board and, more important, pyrite redress. The last seems to be a big issue for many people. Pyrite is a major problem for those whose homes have been affected. I am not 100% sure of the current position in terms of the board or the policy of the Government. Will the Leader ask the relevant Minister with overall responsibility for this particular area to come to the House, make a statement and update the Members on the status of the Pyrite Resolution Board and, more important, how the Government proposes to put in place a meaningful and appropriate redress scheme for the people involved?