John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent instances of homophobia seen in Dublin and Waterford. Pride flags have been removed, straight pride posters have been erected and disgusting graffiti has been scrawled near a gay bar. The people behind these acts do not represent us. Their acts are shameful and wrong and we must stand firm against them and their prejudice. We have made progress in recent years, but we still have a long way to go. That is why it is important that we stand in solidarity with our friends, colleagues and family in the LGBT+ community.

I will turn to another issue, that of social housing and the criteria used by local authorities to determine the house type for which a family qualifies. From examining the issue, there seem to be large discrepancies between local authorities. Some use section 63 of the Housing Act 1966, which defines "overcrowding", to decide for what house type a family unit qualifies. The issue with this is that couples or lone parents with two children of the same sex or below the age of ten years are only being considered for two-bedroom properties whereas couples or lone parents with children of the opposite sex or over ten years of age are being considered for three-bedroom properties. This seems inexplicable. I have raised the matter with the Department, which says that the flexibility to address the matter lies with local authorities. However, local authorities say that the issue lies with the Department. Either way, the problem needs to be resolved and there needs to be consistency across the country. As a result of this restrictive practice, lists in local authorities for three-bedroom accommodation are much shorter than lists for two-bedroom properties. This will continue as time passes, given that more three-bedroom than two-bedroom properties are being built.

It is great to be able to raise this issue because of our social housing output, which increased dramatically from 2013 to 2019. It is often not recognised, but we increased social housing output from 1,800 units in 2013 to more than 10,000 units in 2019. The Government will continue building on that success.