John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to respond to Senator Ardagh's opening statement about the protests yesterday. I acknowledge that there is a housing crisis but it is unfair to expect a Minister or Government to provide the thousands of required houses overnight.I live in Ballaghaderreen on the Mayo-Roscommon border and we are affected by the housing crisis as well. I had reason last summer to check the number of vacant houses in our area, with a population of approximately 2,000 people. There were 352 vacant houses or apartments, including those in ghost estates. In the early 2000s and days of the Celtic tiger, tax incentives were given to build houses that were not needed. Could Senator Ardagh explain to me the recklessness of that period? If that had not happened, we would not have had a protest outside Leinster House yesterday. There must be a bit of balance brought into the debate and a history lesson to illustrate the reasons the crisis has come about. I have no doubt it will be sorted but this cannot be done overnight.