Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for attending this meeting and compliment them on the work they are doing and have done for many years. As in the case of all the other witnesses who have appeared before the committee, it is good to engage with people dealing at the coalface with an issue on a daily basis, as opposed to getting information second-hand, of which there is a great deal.

I understand that Focus Ireland recently had a meeting with the Taoiseach at which it rightly set out its priorities. I believe its requests will be responded to. It is only proper that this should be the case in the context of the current housing emergency. When an emergency is not addressed it escalates.

A few issues come to mind. We need to arrest the rate at which homelessness is hitting the market. If we do not do so now the problem will escalate. This issue can be addressed through a multiplicity of approaches, including modular house provision, the purchase of existing houses, the use of suitable NAMA houses and the dedication of the various local authorities. In this regard it has come to my attention that because of an over-reliance over the past ten or 15 years on the private sector to deal with the housing situation the tendency among local authorities has been to not hold a land bank. This lack of land banks is now a serious issue in the context of available land on which to build emergency housing, modular housing and so on.

There is another issue that is equally important. There is a certain anonymity in regard to how the current housing situation is being dealt with. Members here who are former members of the local authorities will know that previously officials in the local authorities knew everything that needed to be known about individual applicants, including their particular circumstances and their health circumstances. Public representatives were equally well versed in that regard. This tended to push applications towards resolution in a much quicker way than has been the case in recent times. Nowadays there is anonymity in the system with one name on a screen surpassing another as a more serious problem arises. However, we can deal with those cases separately. It is vital that we try to arrest the speed at which people are being evicted and becoming homeless. We must do all we can to prevent this, including instructing people not to vacate their houses.

I am not fully convinced about the need to increase rent support. I recently dealt with a case in respect of which the rent has increased by 100% in the past month. That is not an isolated case. There are many landlords who have a social conscience, believe in social justice and are very conscious of the need to look after their tenants in the best way possible, and they do so, but there are other landlords who do not, unfortunately. The latter are the ones the committee, Focus Ireland and all the other voluntary bodies have to deal with. We must strive through a combination of measures to slow down the rate at which landlords are evicting tenants and provide alternative housing as quickly as possible while at the same time meeting our medium to long-term housing requirement. We need to deal with all of these issues at the same time, otherwise we will always be dealing with emergencies.

I disagree with the political point made by my colleague, Deputy Coppinger. I believe there is a focus in Government on the need to deal with this issue. This issue is taking up a great deal of Government time. The Taoiseach has informed the House that this is a priority matter and that all Departments who have a remit in this area will be called on to make an input. There is no point in our back-biting each other in regard to how serious we are about addressing this issue. I am not here for the publicity or because I enjoy meetings. I am here because I believe that like everybody else present, I have a role to play in resolving this problem.

If we apply those principles in general and work towards the objectives already set out then we can solve the medium, long-term and emergency problems.