Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

May I begin this morning by letting the parents, family and friends of Karen Buckley know that we are all thinking of them at this horrific time.

Yesterday, the Simon Communities briefed us on the worsening crisis in homelessness. There was apparently a meeting yesterday with Dublin City Council and, to quote one of the Simon staff, one could see the whites of their eyes at the extent of the crisis and the lack of response in terms of short-term measures. The Simon Community has said it has never been as bad in Dublin and that the number of homeless families is at the highest level in our history. There are more than 800 children in emergency hotel and hostel accommodation and I understand that we are beginning to run out of hotel accommodation as well. This whole situation has been made much worse by the cuts the Tánaiste has made to the rent allowance and also by the elimination of the mortgage interest supplement. This comes at a time when rents have risen up to 15% or 20% in urban areas. People are being squeezed out of accommodation because they cannot afford it even when they have employment.

We asked the Tánaiste six months ago to reverse the cuts to rent allowance. If this had been done it would have eased the situation somewhat. Is the Tánaiste aware of the particular difficulties concerning the availability of emergency accommodation, particularly here in Dublin? Will she confirm to the House that she will immediately reverse the cuts to rent allowance and to the rent allowance caps to ensure that people can afford to house themselves?

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