Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with much of what Senator Ó Domhnaill said in respect of the self-congratulatory and backslapping tone which marks the Labour Party's motion. I agree with Senator Hayden, however, that it is a timely motion. The Senator referred to Dublin City Council and the position with regard to its budget. I will return to that matter later because there is a particularly question I wish to pose.

It is positive that the Labour Senators have used their Private Members' time to raise the extremely important issue of homelessness. This matter is not given adequate air time, even in the Lower House, by the Government or its Ministers. Debate is not going to offer a solution to the crisis of increasing numbers of homeless, particularly in the context of unprecedented housing need and the shortage of houses. A political solution will be required. We know what that solution is because we are informed about it time and again by those who operate in the area and who deal with homelessness in a real way. However, many of these solutions have yet not been brought to the table. As Senator Ó Domhnaill stated, the motion before the House may mean well but it does nothing to exert real pressure on the Government to pressure it into getting really serious about its commitment to end homelessness. I accept that there is good sentiment behind that commitment but, as is often the case, people are engaging in too much backslapping as opposed to making concrete demands for action. The motion would have been much better if it had contained real calls for action.

Services for the homeless are only part of the fight against homelessness. For the most part, they are actually the last resort. As a result of rising rents, years of austerity, distressed mortgages and lower wages, many families are teetering on the brink of homelessness. They are safe one week and at risk the next as a result of a bill coming due for payment, someone becoming ill or something happening unexpectedly. These families are not protected by homeless services, rather they are assisted by means of social welfare payments such as rent supplement and social housing. The supports they receive are all being either undermined or cut by the Government of which Labour is a part. Senator Hayden referred to the triggers relating to homelessness. However, not so long ago Labour Senators voted to cut rent supplement. Focus Ireland has stated that this cut led to a direct increase in homelessness and in the numbers at risk of homelessness and increased the pressure on many citizens. Labour Senators also voted to reduce jobseeker's benefit and allowance for young people. Focus Ireland indicated that this also led to a direct increase in homelessness, especially among young people leaving care or who had previously experienced homelessness. We cannot consider homelessness in isolation. It is extremely important to take account of these other issues.

As Senator Hayden noted, the motion recognises that the numbers of homeless people are increasing and that the most severe form of homelessness, namely, that which involves sleeping rough, has risen steeply. One does not need to look at the figures to realise that there was an 88% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin last year because these individuals are in plain sight like never before. Last year, the Simon Community's rough sleeper team made contact with 4,271 people. The vast majority of other homelessness people are far more hidden. The 88% figure to which I refer does not include the hidden homeless who might be couch surfing or staying in squats, hospitals or temporary bed and breakfast establishments. These people sleep on couches, share beds with siblings and friends and crash wherever they can. A colleague told me the story of a woman who came to his office and informed him that she shares her mother's couch with her two young sons. According to the council, this woman is not homeless. I know of families with two or three children who are living with their relatives because they cannot obtain housing. Things have fallen through for them and they have been left in limbo.

As already stated, the solution is political. There is a massive shortage of social housing. This is a legacy which the Government of which Labour is a part inherited but I am of the view that insufficient action has been take to overturn that legacy. I stand open to correction but in the capital, where housing need is at its highest, just 29 council houses were built last year. There has been a great deal of discussion with regard to NAMA which, in two years, has delivered less than one quarter of the housing it promised to deliver. This is not permanent social housing; it is another costly bailout for developers. It is also a mere drop in the ocean in the context of what is required. Focus Ireland's research indicates that social housing has been singled out for cuts in every expenditure review since the start of the recession. All aspects of capital investment have been cut but the amount allocated in respect of social housing has been more than halved.

We all know that the draft budget of Dublin City Council contained a cut of €6 million for homeless services. On the night on which the draft budget was discussed, however, amendments were made on the basis of a verbal commitment from the Government in the context of reversing the proposed funding cut. Will the Minister of State indicate whether confirmation has been supplied, in writing, by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in respect of the additional moneys - in the form of grants, etc. - which form the basis for the key budget amendments adopted at the council's annual budget meeting and which were referred to at that meeting as having been verbally confirmed? This is an extremely important matter. I wonder whether we should be funding homeless services in a way which places doubts in the minds of those on the front line at a time when the numbers of those who are homeless are rising. Perhaps the Minister of State will comment on that matter when she makes her contribution.