Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are storing up incredible problems for services in the future as a result of the impact of living in these situations on children. It goes against everything stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We are supposed to put the best interests of the child first and do everything we can for the well-being of the child. I know about these children from the families I meet and calls made to my office. I also know about them from friends who teach these children. I want to mention two examples. One concerns a mother and child who are in emergency accommodation since last January. They still have no key worker. Fortunately, I was able to put them in touch with the Family Resource Centre, which is providing support, but its budgets have been cut. The other example concerns a single parent and her children who were in emergency accommodation in Portmarnock but were moved to Donabate. The children go to school in Baldoyle. That is the reality and the Minister knows it as well as I do. We know the difficulties this is causing. We know the effect on children's mental, physical and emotional well-being. We know it affects their attendance at school. If they are not at school, they are not learning. We are creating problems and children will leave school early as a result. Extra supports are needed for these children.

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