Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I do not deny that homelessness is a complex and complicated issue, but the Government should not be allowed hide behind that. Much of the homelessness facing us right now is not that complicated. According to Peter McVerry, a majority of those who are homeless currently - this is substantiated by my empirical experience - are homeless simply because rents have risen out of control and they cannot afford to pay them. These are not just single people who are unemployed. Some are couples, one who is working and one who is unemployed. They are homeless because rents are out of control, particularly in this city. The simple solution to this is to increase the caps immediately, impose rent controls and, over time, build homes.

There is also a simple enough solution to the dire circumstances of people in emergency accommodation. Dublin City Council paid €2.4 million last year to private hotels and other commercial entities for emergency accommodation at a time when NAMA is sitting on hotel properties that could quite easily be adapted and made accessible for homeless people.

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