Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by mentioning Alan Murphy, the homeless man who died just a few minutes walking distance from here. I express my deepest sympathy to his family and friends. Alan's death should be a call to action. I appeal to the Minister to declare the housing crisis an emergency. That entails the Government taking practical steps to provide a real and lasting solution to the crisis.

Several of those solutions are contained in the motion.

We need immediate access to essential funding for local authorities to enable them to build social housing. We need to speed up public procurement when issuing contracts to build social housing. Once planning permission is in place, we need funding released to start building. I know of one instance where planning permission was granted in South Dublin County Council in October 2013 but, two years later, the funding to build still has not been released. Last October, the Government announced €3.8 billion was to be made available to eliminate the social housing waiting list. Many local authorities are still waiting for that funding and permissions to go to tender to build. This is beyond belief. People are looking for explanations but I cannot explain why this is the case. There are shovel-ready projects across South Dublin County Council with planning permission but funding has not been released. Who and what is the causing the delay?

Significant tracts of land are available but the Department will not accept funding applications plans for more than 50 homes at a time. The funding is being dolloped out in small amounts. Why is that the case? If land is available, and the Minister says money is now available, then what is the problem? Government policy dictates building should not take place in already overcrowded housing estates, yet the Government is allowing local authorities to apply for funding for social housing units in infill areas in already overcrowded estates. Why is that the case? Does the Minister understand the difficulties this causes? Many estates are already at breaking point from decades of neglect, high unemployment, crime, including drug dealing, lack of youth facilities and anti-social behaviour.

Life on the streets is hard, dangerous, tough, rough and ugly but many opt to stay on the streets because it is safer than hostel accommodation. In my constituency office, we are seeing more and more already vulnerable homeless people being told by the local authorities to self-accommodate, which entails calling to a hotel and asking if they have a room. The idea of asking vulnerable people to find accommodation for themselves is outrageous. They regularly find themselves with no money for transport or phone credit to call the hotels. In my opinion, council staff are overstretched and overburdened. I invite the senior Minister to spend a day, even a morning, at the South Dublin County Council homeless unit, sitting at a desk to observe the stress which homeless families and council staff face.

Tonight a refuge for victims of domestic violence, Cuan Álainn in Tallaght, is to close on 18 December. The Respond housing agency says it cannot continue to fund the refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Respond has bank-rolled the refuge in Tallaght for the past three and half years without any financial support from the State. Catering for nine families, Cuan Álainn has housed 71 women and 96 children for more than three years at a cost of €350,000 per annum. Respond undertook to fund this service for three years but can no longer afford to do so. Without this service, women and children may now have to return home to an abusive environment or be forced to enter homelessness. Agencies, including Tulsa, accept Respond has identified a definite need to care for women and children who must move on from emergency refuges. Cuan Álainn serves a large catchment area where the need is great. The cost to the State to provide alternatives to this valuable service will in fact be more costly.

I watched Fr. Peter McVerry on RTE television last evening. I agree with his comments that if the country were hit with an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the Government would declare an emergency. At this stage, one can only draw the conclusion that, to its shame, the Government values the health and well-being of sheep and cattle above that of its own citizens. There is something wrong with such a system. It must change and we must start doing things differently.

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