Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply because he said the Cabinet committee on Construction 2020, housing, planning and mortgage arrears has met eight times. The structure the Taoiseach has in place, and the number of times that committee has met, are inadequate when measured against the degree to which this problem has escalated in the past four years and grown to crisis levels in respect of homelessness and rough sleeping, families with children becoming homeless and the failure to construct an adequate supply of houses. Several Departments are privately admitting they did not see this coming and got it wrong three or four years ago in respect of the crisis we are experiencing. They felt then that there was no need to invest in social housing or to deal with the supply of housing in the private market. Instead, what happened was the decision to reduce the rent supplement and to impose a rent supplement cap, which made the situation more difficult for tenants in certain accommodation. Given that rents have increased by 30%, the Government has created a crisis with many families ending up homeless because they could not afford to pay the rent. We have been pointing this out for the past three years. The Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have been very stubborn about it.

The Taoiseach has consistently been missing the point that those who are renting and perhaps on low incomes or in receipt of welfare payments cannot cope with increasing rents. He pillories me for stating this, but I am not the only one who says so. Those involved in helping homeless families have been stating it consistently since the Government changed strategy on rent allowance. It reduced it, brought forward restrictions and failed to increase it.

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