Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The first thing we need to agree on is that there is a crisis. One may call it a problem or a difficulty but in my area it is a crisis. Rather than trying to resolve it or take measures to relieve the crisis, it seems to be getting worse. Deputy Olivia Mitchell spoke earlier about the situation in Dublin and I am more familiar with that region. She referred to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area and I can talk about similar difficulties in south Dublin.

I am the only Deputy who has a full-time advice centre in my own area. I get cases from Fianna Fáil, Labour and Fine Gael supporters, the majority of which are housing related. There was a time when one could try to come up with solutions for people who were in unsafe, overcrowded and difficult circumstances. In some cases now, however, they are homeless. Homelessness is not just affecting young people, including couples, it also concerns elderly people. In addition, there are individuals whose marriages have broken down and they are forced to sell the family home. Those are the sort of cases that are coming into my advice centre. People are coming to us seeking solutions to their difficulties. We can get them on the housing list but that list is getting longer so we are talking about seven years. In Dublin City Council's area it is longer than that. If an individual is not working or on a low income, the other option is rental supplement.

I recently carried out a survey in my own area because people in such difficult circumstances are constantly being told to look elsewhere. If someone comes to Tallaght and there is no housing available there, they will look in Rathcoole, Rathfarnham or other localities. According to my survey, 96% of the rented accommodation advertised in the local area was above the social welfare threshold for rent supplement. Consequently, there is a difficulty in that regard. Some 77 properties were available in the hinterland including Rathcoole, Rathfarnham, Saggart, Tallaght, Templeogue, Greenhills and Walkinstown. If one goes to Kildare one is going out of County Dublin. Meanwhile, if one goes into the city centre the rents are going up, so where can people go to find accommodation? Of those 77 properties, a large amount would not accept rental supplement. Of the three houses whose landlords said they would take rental supplement, the rent was so high that it meant the option was meaningless. That option was therefore out for those individuals.

Some people say that the thousands of NAMA properties are a magic wand but, according to the local housing manager, in south Dublin there are only a handful of such properties. The remaining options are to stay where one is, even if it is unsafe. A woman who attended my advice centre last week is living in a refuge; she does not have the option of obtaining rented accommodation. It is also difficult to obtain rent supplement, as was the case recently concerning a woman with a large family. It is hard to get four-bedroom accommodation for such a person. That woman is not allowed to rent three-bedroom accommodation, so her options are a hostel or one bedroom in a local hotel. There is no flexibility in that respect.

While there is a crisis, I agree with the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan's housing-led approach, including the provision of emergency accommodation. However, the Dundalk women's refuge has been subject to 75% cuts. The options are shrinking and thus the problems are becoming worse. We do not have options to offer people who are experiencing housing difficulties.

I welcome the Minister of State's plan to refurbish housing stock but it is a drop in the ocean.

We must adopt a much more radical approach to a problem which is getting worse. We heard on the radio this morning about 183,000 people in mortgage distress while three insolvency cases have been dealt with. Where are those people going to go if they lose their homes? They will be looking to the safety net that used to be there in terms of housing. They will approach their local authorities for housing or rented accommodation which is not there. We are not doing anything to help those people.

I am sorry for being so negative in my contribution but there are options we can explore. That involves building new houses and a radical approach.

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