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

The tragic death of Mr. Jonathan Corrie is an unspeakable event for his family, friends and loved ones. It is also a source of immense shame for the State, the political system and the Government. We cannot allow tragedies such as Mr. Corrie's death to continue. Emergency measures are needed to deal with what has become a national emergency. Talk of long-term solutions and spending billions of euro by 2020 is all very well, but we need an emergency response now. Incidentally, the House has not had an opportunity to properly scrutinise the Government's housing proposals, about which many questions remain unanswered.

I will make two simple proposals which have been made on numerous occasions, both by the homeless agencies and, since 2011, Deputies in this House. First, suitable empty buildings must be requisitioned in every local authority area and quickly refurbished to provide accommodation for the homeless.

In my area there are two buildings owned by the local authority, one of which has been earmarked for homeless accommodation for several years and another of which is an empty building in which dozens of families or people could live. They are sitting there empty. The local authority should be given the money to refurbish them and get people off the streets.

We need a phone call from the Minister for Social Protection to community welfare officers around the country telling them one simple thing, namely, that if a person cannot find accommodation under the rent caps but can find it at €1,100, €1,200 or €1,300, it will be approved. It is not about raising the general level of the caps; rather, it is about nobody being turned away. All a community welfare officer has to do to confirm the legitimacy of such a claim is to go onto www.daft.ie on the same day and check if it is a reasonable request.

I know of a woman who was made homeless three months ago because of the rent caps. She has found somewhere that is cheaper but is still not within the rent caps. She was led to believe by the Minister for Social Protection that there would be flexibility from the community welfare officer. This weekend she, along with her two children, is facing homelessness again because the community welfare officer will not sanction a breach of the cap. She will be homeless unless those phone calls are made. I appeal for a phone call to be made to the Department of Social Protection to say nobody will be forced into homelessness because of the rent caps.

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