Mr. Pat Doyle:

We raised the increase of homelessness in Dublin during the boom to remind members that a new housing build in itself will not reduce homelessness. That is why we are calling for a national housing strategy. During the boom, thousands bought a second home for buy-to-let. We had shared ownership for certain groups but many homeless people did not have access to them because they did not have employment. That was at time when we were talking about full employment. Most homeless people, particularly young single males who left school at 14 and were in and out of the prison system, were not getting these jobs during the boom. We had a housing boom with full employment and yet there were people from the low socio-economic groupings on the edge. We are looking for a housing strategy that will not be all three-bedroomed houses but that the most vulnerable and marginalised will get access to housing.

We are also calling for an oversight body on rents and rent legislation. The private rented sector has always formed part of the market for housing homeless people. We need regulation in the rental market and for rent caps to be linked to inflation. We have had rent caps reduced in the past years. They need to be increased now to go with market value.

We do not want, as Deputy Ellis said, people heading into homelessness as a means of getting housing. We do not want families going into hotels which might be ten miles from their child’s school just to get access to housing. I believe we can end long-term homelessness, namely those who are homeless for over six months, by 2016. That is why we believe the acquisition of housing rather than its build over the next two years will help us hit that target.