Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today, 1 December, is the one year anniversary of the death of Jonathan Corrie no more than 20 metres from this Chamber and within sight of the Dáil. Our thoughts today are with Jonathan's family and his loved ones. His death justifiably sparked outrage at the Government's inaction and failure to tackle the ongoing housing crisis. We heard lots of assurances from the Taoiseach and his Ministers that things would improve. The Minister with responsibility for housing, Deputy Alan Kelly, said the Government would end homeless by 2016 but since then the homelessness crisis has escalated, with chaos heaped upon chaos by this Government.

This morning the CEO of Dublin's Simon Community, Mr. Sam McGuinness, said that the homeless situation is going to get worse. Homelessness has increased by 80%, the number of children who are homeless has doubled, with 70 to 80 families per month becoming homeless. In Dublin alone there are over 1,500 children in emergency accommodation. That is 1,500 children who have nowhere to call home this Christmas. We are also witnessing the fastest level of rent increases since 2007, including in my constituency in Louth where rents have increased by 13.5% in the last 12 months. In Louth there are almost 5,000 people on the housing list.

The Government promised to build at least 1,000 social housing units this year. Reports indicate that just 20 social houses were built in the first half of the year and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, has conceded that there will be a mere 200 built in 2015. This is a disgrace and it is unfair. The Taoiseach must surely accept that there is a need to declare a housing emergency. Why does the Taoiseach not liaise with the European Commission to have the housing crisis declared a national emergency so the Government can speed up its procurement processes for the construction of social housing? It could then fund the construction of social housing outside the existing fiscal constraints. That is one way to resolve this crisis speedily. It is the Taoiseach's decision; why does he not opt for that?

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