I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this important motion. There are families from flats in Dublin in the audience today. Good, decent people are being left to live in damp, mouldy, unsafe homes. That is simply unacceptable. I have seen it in towns and villages in west Cork, where people have been waiting years for repairs that never come. They are paying high rents while living in conditions that no one here would be expected to tolerate. The Government talks about housing numbers but a substandard home is not a housing solution. We must fix the homes we already have and make them warm, dry and safe. When regeneration is promised, we must be honest. If we knock down homes, where are the replacements? Communities deserve straight answers. People are tired of plans, consultation and glossy announcements. They want delivery, accountability and funding that is ring-fenced, time-bound and actually spent on the ground. This is not just a Dublin problem. It is a very serious problem in Dublin and I fully respect those who are here today to highlight their crisis, as such. However, it is happening across rural Ireland, too. The message from those communities is clear: treat tenants with dignity, stop the waste and delays, and make sure no regeneration project reduces the number of homes available. We support action, and want to see real delivery, real value for money and real homes in which people can actually live. We must look at different ways. The Government has, in fairness, been looking at some ways, including extensions at the back of houses. I fully agree with that and think it is wrong for anyone to criticise it. We must look at every opportunity out there. I would like the Government to consider affordable sites and the value to communities. People bought sites with State subsidies and homes were built for local people who took their children to the local school and invested in the local community. They were a huge benefit long ago but are not there today. I would like the Government to look at that again. Affordable sites are a considerable issue in rural communities. People cannot afford to buy sites or get a mortgage or whatever. I have been fighting for a long time about housing and have talked about planning. It is a serious issue. I am a big believer in the county development plan but county development plans are built not to engage. That is a serious mistake. It tells people how to get housing and planning for the next number of years but if you are not allowed to participate in it or it is poorly advertised or poorly discussed with people, they do not get that chance. People have come to me often recently. They have ruins and are trying to rebuild them. There is an amount of hassle involved. It costs thousands and thousands of euro for this report and that report. It is turning people away from just doing up a ruin that is falling down anyway. I cannot understand for the life of me where the Government is going. We need to look at vacant houses. The Government is attacking the short-term lets sector. I plead with the Minister not to allow that to continue. In rural communities, the Government has said it is dealing with-----

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I thank the Deputy. I did not interrupt when she was speaking.

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Hang on a minute, we are talking about them too. There is plenty of time to let the Deputy talk when she wants to. The whole problem of the short-term lets is a serious issue for our communities. At the same time, you see vacant council houses and HSE houses all over the place. There is plenty of housing. The Government is going after a sector it should not be going after.

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