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

Last night, the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, described the housing and homelessness crisis as a matter of concern. I put it to her that it is not a matter of concern; it is an emergency. The first step in resolving this crisis is for the Minister of State to recognise it as a crisis that is now becoming an emergency. I acknowledge that she inherited the problem from the previous Fianna Fáil Government, which turned housing and property into a casino for banks and property developers. That caused the crisis but it is not the end of the story because in the three years this Government has been in power, it has not addressed the problem and the measures it has taken have only made the crisis worse. She has to admit that fact.

The Government made the problem worse by cutting the rent allowance. Two years ago, the Minister for Social Protection told us this decision would result in reductions in rents. She was wrong and should admit that it did not work. Rents have increased. The problem was also exacerbated by the Government's abandonment, in June 2011, of direct provision for social housing. The document to which the Minister of State referred announced that the Government was going to rely primarily on leasing arrangements with the private sector. That has failed. Landlords are pulling out of RAS and other leasing arrangements because they can make more money on the open market. The Irish mortgage brokers association, which represents landlords, has stated they will not solve the problem. The people to whom the Government is looking to solve the problem are stating baldly that they will not do so. Furthermore, by giving a veto to the banks on mortgage distress and allowing for the repossession of homes, we will be facing another catastrophe when the individuals concerned will be put on the housing list and made homeless because of the lack of social housing.

The first step on the road to wisdom is to accept this is an emergency rather than a matter of concern. Some of the human faces of that emergency are in the Gallery. Bethany, who is 19 years old, is on a Tús scheme and is homeless. The Department of Social Protection proposes to cut her from the Tús scheme because she cannot give an address. Lindsay-----

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