Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I sincerely thank the witnesses not just for appearing before the committee today but for all the work they do every day. It is tremendous. They are dealing with the most vulnerable people in our society. We talk about the big numbers in Housing for All such as 300,000 homes and so forth, but it comes down to the individual lived experience of the people who suffer homelessness. The witnesses and the people who work with them are at the coalface, and we appreciate the work they do.

I have some questions. I refer to the opening statement by Mr. Dennigan regarding the causes and prevention of homelessness, particularly the issue of illegal evictions and the moratorium on evictions. We discussed this issue with representatives of the DRHE and the Department when they were before the committee previously. The representatives of the DRHE clearly stated that it is not illegal evictions or evictions that are driving homelessness, but a number of other factors. It is not funds either. They said clearly that funding is not an issue now. However, what they clearly stated was an issue is the supply of built properties, because we are coming out of a decade of undersupply and we have had two construction lockdowns in the last two years. Mr. Dennigan mentioned small landlords leaving, which is a major problem.

How do we keep small landlords? How do we increase supply in the immediate and short term? I heard what Mr. Dennigan said. He believes people who are homeless tonight will not be homeless in three years' time. That is great news, but three years is a long time.