Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thought Senator McDowell was going to call for squatters' rights as a means to address the crisis in vacancy and the housing crisis but that would not track with his ideology. I thank the Labour Party Senators and I welcome former Senator, Billy Lawless. He was a great advocate for Irish America and the Irish diaspora. He is very missed here.

I thank Senators Sherlock, Hoey, Moynihan and Wall for bringing forward the motion. We all agree, in the midst of a housing crisis, that if there are 50,000, 60,000 or 165,000 houses vacant, that is a disgrace. Homes on every estate across the highways and byways of our country are lying empty as people struggle to get on the housing ladder. I may as well come to the defence of Dublin City Council as it has gotten such abuse. It was reported on 9 November by Olivia Kelly in The Irish Timesthat vacant Dublin City Council houses will remain boarded up due to funding cuts, according to an official. Senior council officials said Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage funding for refurbishing empty properties was "constantly coming down". I thought funding was no obstacle in addressing the housing crisis but according to Dublin City Council and a senior engineer-----