Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I read with interest the housing document launched by the Government yesterday. While I welcome any initiative that will deal with the housing crisis around the country, I have said repeatedly that it needs three strands, short, medium and long term. It is clear from the document that the focus is almost exclusively on the medium and long term, referring to 2017-2020, a timeline beyond the lifetime of this Government and we can understand why. I see nothing in the document that will alleviate the current emergency situation that leaves hundreds of children homeless tonight. I had hoped to see something that would relax the rent supplement limits which are a key issue forcing people into homelessness.

In 2014, a total of €344.1 million was available in the social protection budget for rent assistance. That has been reduced to €297 million for 2015, a 14% cut at a time when rents are rising and there is a housing emergency. The medium and long term solutions are essential and many will come to fruition in 2020. That does not provide an immediate solution for the 800 children and the families who are homeless and will be homeless this Christmas.

The Government seriously underestimates the level of homelessness because there are countless families supporting relatives, allowing them to sleep on couches. I know whole families occupying one room, as I am sure the Tánaiste does, given the location that elected her. How long can a mother and her children sleep on a couch? That cannot be a semi-permanent solution, which it is at the moment. They cannot wait until 2017 for a solution. How many new houses will come on stream in the lifetime of this Government or is that known? Does the Tánaiste agree that the rent supplement limits are completely out of line with market rents? Will she seek a supplementary budget and immediately relax the rent limits to address or stall the homelessness crisis?

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