Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At the recent summit with the Minister, Deputy Kelly, the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, officials, managers of local authorities and politicians, Sinn Féin outlined that an immediate response and provision of emergency accommodation was essential. My party also outlined how it envisaged this issue could be tackled and put forward a number of suggestions. Sinn Féin did not want the forum to be a talking shop but also wished to make clear why homelessness was now such a big problem and that longer-term and short-term solutions were needed urgently. My party outlined that the haemorrhaging of people from the rent supplement scheme and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, needed to be stopped. Sinn Féin also noted the cases of many people who have lost their homes or are under the threat of losing their homes due to their landlords' mortgage difficulties, as well as people with distressed mortgages who have been obliged to give up their homes or have had them repossessed.

Much of this problem comes down to rent rates, which clearly are too high. Although demand can usually push a product to a price ceiling above which no one will pay for it, housing is different and landlords have shown an unwillingness to set fair rents for their tenants and are even leaving residences idle because no one possibly could afford the rates being asked. If one looks on Daft.ie right now, modest flats and houses are going up in price by the hundreds. The Government has a responsibility to protect tenants and ensure the market is reasonable and fair. That is why Sinn Féin has ardently demanded rent controls both within and between tenancies. These are not rent freezes or rent caps per se. They are simply regulations that ensure the rent being charged on accommodation reflects the quality of that accommodation and is affordable now and in the longer term. Deputy Rabbitte recently stated he believed it was necessary as an emergency measure and Fr. Peter McVerry has also stated it is needed. Focus Ireland and Threshold also have weighed in with their support. Opposition to this measure does not truly take into account the human cost of allowing things to continue as they are.

However, we also have a crisis in emergency accommodation right now that can only be solved by providing more places immediately. Sinn Féin has been telling the Government for years that the bodies providing these beds are at bursting point and are operating at capacity. They also have been making this point and things have only got worse. Part of this is down to the Government's failure to move people out of homelessness and emergency accommodation into housing. Emergency accommodation must be truly for an emergency and real housing must be provided for those people who have been in emergency accommodation for an extended period. Otherwise, the personal problems that homelessness causes only deepen and others who need emergency accommodation must go without.

I welcome the announcement of 260 extra beds in Dublin by Christmas, which is late in coming but is necessary. The night café is also a welcome initiative for those who do not want to be in hostels but need support. I note also that 50% of housing allocations in Dublin for the next six months will be focused on people in homelessness but how much does that actually represent? The Government has a miserable record on delivering housing. People are waiting for years to be allocated homes and are living in terrible conditions. How many people actually will be allocated homes in Dublin in the next six months? In addition, while this plan sounds good, what of the people who have been on the housing list for ages and are in bad accommodation they can no longer afford? These will be the new homeless and the Minister might well just create a vicious cycle in which some are housed while others are forced out of housing. The local authorities have medical priorities, welfare priorities and other priorities, many of which involve people who have been waiting for several years. What does the direction to the local authorities mean? Does the Minister have the powers to direct local authorities to devote 50% of the allocation to homelessness?

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