Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

That is all very interesting, but it makes not a whit of difference to the people in the Visitors Gallery. Charlene is living in Citywest and must drag her five children across town to school in Shankill every day. She has been in and out of homeless accommodation for two years. Ilona and Donatus will be evicted in the next few days and have to move to homeless accommodation. I have been in contact with the Department about the case for three weeks as it will not vary the rent cap by approximately €100. Noeleen was made homeless because her landlord increased her rent and had to move into homeless accommodation. She is now living in dilapidated, substandard accommodation under the rental accommodation scheme. Peter who has mental health problems has been in a homeless hostel for three years. Kirin, an elderly woman, has been in a homeless hostel in Dún Laoghaire for several years and cannot find a rental property anywhere.

The Minister indicated that 1,500 rental properties were available in 2013. Does she know how many of them fitted the criteria of being available to people on rent allowance or falling under the cap set by the Department? I bet she does not know that only nine of the 1,500 properties fitted her Department's criteria in the whole of 2013. What is everybody else supposed to do? People are being made homeless. I beg the Minister to do something for the individuals in the Visitors Gallery and the large number of people who are arriving in tears and desperate at politicians' clinics with their children because they do not want to end up in homeless hostels on the other side of the city or on the street.

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