Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

These are two valuable reports and the recommendations contained within them are good. There is not one I would fail to support. A few themes shine through from what has been written and said. The success of the Focus Ireland policy of appointing case managers is striking, as they deal with people on a one to one basis, are non-judgmental and understand the nuances and individual circumstances of each person facing or in homelessness while providing assistance. Being in someone's corner makes a huge difference, as evidenced by the fact that there was a result in 34 out of 35 cases, which is positive.

Another theme that emerges strongly is the position in which the system puts people when they become homeless. Is there anything more stressful in people's lives than facing homelessness? Perhaps divorce or the death of a spouse, while some surveys have shown that going to war is up there, but it is one of the three or four most stressful life events a human could face, yet the system says people have to provide their own accommodation and sign in on a daily basis when there are clear alternatives such as texting. An issue that is constantly raised with me but which has not been mentioned in this discussion is the lack of storage facilities in which people can store their worldly goods. The provision of such facilities is recommended in the report. This is perhaps the most stressful situation someone will face, yet the system forces him or her to jump through a series of petty and humiliating hoops as though they are being punished for the crime of being homeless. This highlighted in the report which calls for a complete reversal of culture, which is entirely what is needed.

I read with interest the survey of the primary reasons people face homelessness. It is overwhelmingly down to issues in the private rented sector such as notice to quit to allow the sale of property. Mr. Harvey has mentioned that rent arrears and rent increases account for approximately 80% of cases. The interviewees picked three issues thated need to be addressed, one of which was regulation of the private rented sector. Clearly, that is an issue to be addressed in this discussion. I was a wee bit surprised that none of the 35 cases that were managed referred to notice to quit on the grounds of substantial refurbishment or renovation because my experience is that the number of so-called renovictions is on the increase. It is the excuse du jourfor landlords who are moving away from the sale of property to substantial refurbishment when issuing notices to quit. Will the delegates comment on this? For example, I am dealing with a case in Cork city which involves a block of apartments, Leeside Apartments, which was purchased last year by a vulture fund. The prospectus issued by Sherry Fitzgerald when it was being sold referred to the opportunity to refurbish and significantly increase rents to yield more than €1 million a year from the building. A fresh batch of notices to quit have just been issued because the fund did not do its homework in the first batch. More than 25 households face homelessness, many of which are families with young children. The residents have written to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade who is a local representative asking for a face to face meeting. They will ask for the loophole in the law in that regard to be closed entirely and for a ban on economic evictions or, at the very least, a moratorium. I support the imposition of a full ban in that regard. Will Mr. Allen comment on the phenomenon of the rise the number of of renovictions? Is it on Focus Ireland's radar?