Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Jan O'Sullivan for putting forward the Bill. On a general point, my party has published ten Bills, some of which have completed Second Stage, although most have not gone much further. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, talks about listening to the Opposition and asks it to come forward with its ideas. I do not think we have had any element of an Opposition housing Bill even pass through the Dáil, let alone the Dáil and the Seanad. We supported Deputy Jan O'Sullivan's very worthwhile Bill on Second Stage. My concern is that we are just going through the motions. We produce legislation and speak on it on Second Stage and it then gets to pre-legislative scrutiny. However, I do not know where it goes to after that. We have to prioritise some of these Bills to try to ensure they pass the Dáil. The Seanad is then another matter.

Recognising a group of people as a family unit and prioritising children is crucially important. I agree wholeheartedly on that. The Deputy referred to Margaret Cash, and she was not the first mam - or dad, indeed - to have to sleep in a Garda station with her or his kids. I wrote directly to the Minister at the time and asked him to establish a time-bound task force on child and family homelessness. It would take six to eight weeks to bring the stakeholders together and see what is needed, including whether we need legislation like this. I think we do need it because this is a priority that we have to drive.

Fianna Fáil supports this Bill. We have other legislation which would complement it and which we will publish next week. It will be an addition to this Bill. My only question is about the Deputy's interaction with the Department and the Minister. Is she in any way confident that this can go to the next Stage and that we can clear Committee, Report and Final Stages? I hope she is. What sense does she get from the Department?

I could go through different testimonies, as others have done, which we are all receiving. We are all meeting people every single day of the week. The housing crisis is not getting better. Certainly for families and children it is a massive issue and we have to work together in the Oireachtas to resolve it. That is why I urge Government to look in real terms at Opposition Bills, take them on board and enact them.