Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

It seems to me that it is a bit performative of the Government to talk about tackling child poverty when under this Government child poverty is worsening. This Government is trying to fog the mirrors in order that people say it is serious about child poverty. If you do not know children in poverty or you are not dealing with that, it is something that can be forgotten. That sentence made a difference in how the report landed with people. It specified that the figure is one in five when housing is included. If you hear that and do not think about it a second time, you just think "well, it is only if you include housing, and sure everybody has to live somewhere". I have to say it really angers me.

Housing is obviously the biggest issue facing everyone at the moment. I do a lot of clinics which are invaluable because they allow us to see what is actually going on in people's lives rather than what we hear anecdotally. One of the things I have noticed more and more is that when a person gets a notice to quit, the chances of him or her finding somewhere to live are realistically almost impossible.

Another huge issue I have come across - I have never seen it as much - is the issue of domestic violence and the impact the housing crisis has on it and on the children potentially involved. Women should have a safe place to live regardless of whether they are living with children or without children. Both categories need to be included. Is this something that Social Justice Ireland has noticed in terms of poverty? I have come across a number of women who have left a refuge to go into homelessness. They have done so with their children or on their own. A woman who was in a refuge for almost a year, and who was trying to find accommodation the entire time but could not do so, ended up in homelessness. Has Social Justice Ireland looked at that area? Single mothers are the people most at risk of poverty, and we can add the issue of domestic violence to the discussion.