Housing crisis and alleged blame shift

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. Inné, rinne an Taoiseach tráchtanna a rinne iarracht locht na géarchéime tithíochta a aistriú ón Rialtas go dtí na hoibrithe agus na teaghlaigh atá gan tithe. Goilleann d'fhocail orthu siúd atá gafa san éigeandáil tithíochta. Is ar Fhine Gael agus ar Fhianna Fáil atá an fhreagracht as an ngéarchéim seo agus ní ar oibrithe agus ar theaghlaigh atá gan tithe. The housing crisis has dominated life in Ireland for more than a decade now and many people are struggling to put a secure and affordable roof over their heads. This social catastrophe is ruining the potential and aspirations of an entire generation. Workers, families and our young people, who could never have imagined they would end up without a home, are living this nightmare through no fault of their own. It is a deeply traumatising experience for people who find themselves in this awful situation.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach twice made remarks that would cause real hurt and anger among those caught up in the housing crisis. The first was at a Government press conference on housing and then later on the floor of the Dáil, where he stated that very many people in emergency accommodation have refused offers of permanent housing. Not only is that remark untrue, it seeks to shift the blame for the Government's failed housing policies away from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and place it onto the victims of this crisis. It creates the impression that those faced with homelessness are choosing to be in this situation. This is not true for those living in emergency accommodation or, indeed, for those thousands of others who are sofa surfing or back in the box room of their parents' homes.

We have had cases, and the Taoiseach knows about these because we have spoken about them in the Dáil, of retail staff who work every single day, every hour that God sends, and still they find themselves in emergency accommodation. What about the nurse sleeping in her car with two children while she desperately searches for a home? What about the teachers evicted from their rented accommodation with no fall back option? These are people who, for more than a decade, have struggled to buy a home, endured extortionate rents and languished on social housing waiting lists year after year with no end in sight.

Can the Taoiseach, just for a moment, imagine how they felt yesterday when he stood here and they heard his remarks not just once but twice? He should apologise for those comments and he should do it today.

Workers and families are not at fault for not being able to put a roof over their heads and the Taoiseach knows this only too well. That fault lies with his Government. On the watch of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, house prices have gone through the roof, rents are out of control and social and affordable housing targets are far too low, and the Government has even failed to meet those low targets year after year. The Government's record is that 12,700 people are homeless and 3,700 children have nowhere to call a home in this State. This is a shameful record on the part of the parties in government and not that of the individuals who find themselves in this situation.

Fine Gael has now been in power for 12 years. For seven of those years, the party has been joined at the hip with Fianna Fáil. The policies these parties have implemented together over the course of the last decade have brought us to where we are today. The housing crisis and all the damage done to the lives of ordinary people is the greatest failure of this Government. Those caught up in the crisis are looking on at a Government with plenty of money and resources but which still cannot deliver the homes people need. Does the Taoiseach accept that he was wrong to try to shift the blame for the housing crisis onto the victims of this crisis? Will he apologise for this remark?

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