Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, the Secretary General and their team, and thank them for appearing before the committee. I place on record my appreciation and thanks to the Minister's team in the Custom House. I have found them to be exceptionally helpful and supportive whenever I have requested information on Rebuilding Ireland. Much of our work can be done in that way, which works well for me. I just want to acknowledge that.

I congratulate Deputy Rock on his appointment as Chairman and wish him well. I also extend my best wishes to Deputy Bailey who served this committee with distinction. The Chairman has big shoes to fill, as the Minister said, and I want to wish Deputy Bailey well. She contributed greatly to this work and that is important. I have no doubt she will have a continuing role in relation to housing.

I have had a look at the Rebuilding Ireland programme. As I indicated to the Minister's predecessor, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, it contains 168 key actions in five pillars. It was a brave and courageous move for a Minister and Government to set down all those tasks because once one starts setting down tasks in a format like this, one always has to deliver them and account for them. I do not think the Minister or his team has any difficulty with that, and much has been achieved. When we look back at this original document, we have to acknowledge where we have come from and where we are now. Much of the work involved putting down strong foundations and getting things done but there is much more to be done.

I have about 12 questions and I intend being simple and to the point. I will tee off the reference points for these questions in the Rebuilding Ireland status report. Actions 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 all relate to Tusla. I have serious concerns about the safety protocols there. We all need to feel safe wherever we live and we also need to feel safe and secure, particularly in emergency accommodation. Without commenting on a particular case currently before the courts, there was a description in the papers yesterday of emergency accommodation that was "chaotic", "unsuitable" and "unsafe". That is the allegation, which must be a worry for anyone involved in housing. People are vulnerable, as the Minister said. People feel isolated and vulnerable when they are homeless and they need our help. We all accept that but it is important to state it.

I will make a few requests of the Minister. We should review and examine the protocols in relation to Stay Safe and child protection. Every local authority should be reissued guidelines on what to look out for and what the statutory obligations on child protection are. This is really important. I ask the Minister to request a review and that a protocol and circular be issued to all housing authorities and people dealing with housing in relation to this matter.

It is time that we look again at action 1.7, which refers to a renewed focus on people living in institutional and State care. They are particularly vulnerable and we know from our research and work on the ground that many of them end up homeless after leaving care. We need to look at this objective again.

The HAP place finder services are working exceptionally well and we need more of them. I would like to look again at providing additional people and resources for local authorities and HAP. I know one or two local authorities said they did not want those resources but we need to look at the ones that do because it is a good system.

Action 1.35 deals with non-Irish nationals without residency entitlements, which is a particular area of vulnerability for people who need safe housing like anybody else. I ask that we look at that again to ensure we are picking up on all the issues and fulfilling our commitments on it. This is a group of people that needs to be supported and cared for as much as anybody else would be in this country. I ask the Minister to look into that.

Could the Chairman flag my time?