Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When a visitor to Russia asked Mikhail Gorbachev why he introduced perestroika he replied, “Look around you”. Perestroika was to involve the reconstruction of the Russian economy and society. We need to look around us, outside this Parliament building. If the Minister of State looks around he will see the problems. If we got an agreement that many of the Members who are absent now would walk around with open eyes to see what is going on we might have a perestroika-Coffey moment. It is important to do this. It is generally accepted that there is a crisis. What do we do about it? We are putting forward genuine proposals that we hope Government or someone will listen to. We are not the only ones putting forward solutions to the problem.

Figures have been given for the number of households with housing needs across the State. We know from our constituency offices about the extent of the problem. This week three homeless families came to my constituency office. There was a time when one could tell people to go here or there, or get rent allowance but there is nothing I can say or do now. My job is to be a problem solver for many of these people. I am trying to give them some direction but I cannot direct them anywhere. I can direct them to homeless services but the services are not there. This is a huge problem.

One family is living in a tent in the Priory in Tallaght village. Other families are living in cars. Another family with a one-month old child is couch-hopping, staying with relatives or friends but they have nowhere to go. The stock answer is to get rental accommodation but there is no rental accommodation for that family in my constituency. I challenge anyone to get that funding through rent allowance or anything else.

The Minister of State may say we are foolish but we have identified a possible funding avenue. There is a housing crisis. How do we solve that problem? We need to build more housing. It is a matter for us all, if this House were to do nothing else, to come up with some solutions that will work. There are empty houses in Tallaght. They were built by Respond! Housing Association with the local council. There is an argument between the association and South Dublin County Council. There are units which have been vacant for over two years, maybe even three years. At the same time people are walking up and down the streets. If the Minister of State could do something about that it would be a positive and practical step. The houses are in Gleann na hEorna.

The rent supplement is not enough in my area. In one area the waiting time is four years for a family to be housed. In South Dublin the waiting time is eight years. Someone who comes to me with a child under four has not been long enough on the list and has no chance. There is a big problem for single men who have split up with their partners. They have nowhere to go. I can tell the Minister of State about any number of cases of people in these awful situations. One woman, aged 73, who is estranged from her husband, has nowhere to live. I know someone living in a converted garage paying €650 a month after losing the family home.

Perhaps we could have a perestroika-Coffey moment. The Minister of State should walk around the city to see what is wrong and maybe collectively we can come up with answers.

See this speech in context