Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I would also like to raise concerns about the homeless figures and people being taken off the list, although Deputy Ó Broin has outlined that and I will not go into it further. It is not right and there are many anomalies within it. There are 9,652 on the homeless list for April, 3,689 of whom are children. The length of time people are homeless, whether in a hotel, a bed and breakfast or a hostel, is getting longer and longer. The Minister said there was a speeding up with regard to the hubs but that is because many people from the hubs are taking HAP tenancies, where and if they can get that. This is one of the big problems.

I have a serious concerns about HAP. I agree with some of the other Deputies in that I am very much opposed to the whole idea of HAP. It is a windfall for many private landlords, particularly given the way it has been introduced. I will give one example. In Hampton Wood in Ballymun, some 130 units were bought up by Ires REIT, a private company, and all of those units are going to HAP. The council has so far taken 50 of these for HAP at almost €1,800 for two-bedroom houses. Let us think about that. What person can afford that sort of money? What about the amount of money the local authority has to put up, notwithstanding that the tenant has to pay a certain amount. It is mad economics. I do not understand why the local authorities could not have bought these units and used them as social housing. I do not understand why we are not proactive enough. Perhaps there is a problem with many of the local authorities in terms of being proactive in this regard. It is clear that companies as big as this one have bought up hundreds of units across the areas.

I have another serious concern. The Minister mentioned there are 763 people in hotels. Given the Pope's visit is coming up, people are going to be pushed out of hotels. Where are they going to go? The Minister said we will produce more hubs. This happens every time there is a major event in that people get thrown from Jack to Jill, and some of them end up couchsurfing or end up in all sorts of messes. It is an indictment of us as a society that this can happen.

Reference was made to people refusing HAP. I can understand that. I know of people who are high on the housing list and who are asked to take up a HAP tenancy. Some of them have to travel from one end of the city to the other, with children. They are taken out of their community and brought into a completely different environment. No one would buy a house in a location where they do not want to go, for starters. I can understand why some people have refused to take up what the Minister calls social housing. I do not consider HAP as social housing and I think it is the wrong definition.

It is mind-boggling. At the end of the day, it is clear that nothing has changed. Since 2011 the number of homeless people has tripled - that is the reality. The Minister is right to say that those who are leaving homelessness go various different ways, whether to HAP, to social housing or otherwise. The problem is they are being replaced. People are desperate because many landlords are making up excuses that they are selling their houses and they are putting people out. That is why there is no change in the figures. Obviously, if we do not build enough social housing, that is going to continue. It is very frustrating.

A member appeared on television in regard to the European Investment Bank and the Minister mentioned he was in negotiations with it. Why is it taking so long? We have been pointing out for years that the European Investment Fund is available. To go back to 2011, when I was housing spokesperson for my party, I was raising this issue. Everything seems to be moving at a pace which means the homeless figures are not changing and our reaction to events is not changing. We need to start building estates and homes in larger quantities, and we need State input to that. Unless we do that, we will be coming back here for years to come. It is very frustrating. I feel nearly lost for words at this stage, given the number of times we have revisited this issue.