Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fr. Peter McVerry, well known to all of us in this House as a Trojan campaigner for the homeless, said yesterday on RTE’s "Morning Ireland" that homelessness is even worse today than this time last year. He said:

The situation is much worse than last year. 270 beds were opened and within four weeks they were full and the numbers sleeping on the streets were beginning to climb again...

On average, 40 families a month are becoming homeless. At the moment, the average number of families becoming homeless per month is 73.

These are shocking facts. We are not even talking about individuals incidents here; we are talking about families. It would break the coldest of hearts to see the number of people cold and hungry on the streets of our capital city. Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the death of Jonathan Corrie who passed away in a doorway in the shadow of this very building. We were united in our grief. The Government pledged to address this issue. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, convened an emergency summit on homelessness and the immediate response was to make an additional 220 emergency beds available in Dublin. This was clearly not enough then and it is certainly not enough now.

The homeless and housing emergency ravages on. Approximately 89,872 households are on local authority waiting lists, with some people waiting nine to ten years for a home. The number of social houses being built has plummeted from 4,209 in 2005 to only 499 in the first six months of 2015. From January to June of this year, more than 1,000 children were sleeping in emergency accommodation. The Disability Federation of Ireland reports that 2,900 people are currently living in congregated settings, denying them their right to privacy and independent living. They cannot be forgotten in all of this.

This is all happening under the Government’s watch. In budget 2016, the Government allocated €17 million to tackle the emergency homeless crisis while allocating €28 million to increase the thresholds for tax-free inheritances and gifts, which is testament to where its priorities lie.

The issue of homelessness is not exclusive to Dublin or other major urban centres. Some 1,327 individuals and families are currently on the housing waiting lists across County Monaghan. In sheer desperation people are coming to our elected team on an almost daily basis telling their own personal stories and expressing their sheer frustration at the length of time they have been waiting for a house, somewhere they can call home. It was recently revealed that 28 vacant council houses are available in County Monaghan. I reiterate a point I made a number of weeks ago when I said that it beggars belief and defies logic that these houses are lying idle when more than 1,300 applicants are on housing waiting lists across my home county.

It is blindingly obvious that there is a need to refocus and re-evaluate the so-called strategy employed by this Government. The Bill offers viable, realistic and effective measures to address all of these pressing issues. It literally is a matter of life or death.

The Bill brought forward by my colleague, Deputy Ellis, focuses on protection of those at risk of losing their homes, tenants and mortgage holders alike. We need to put an end to rent uncertainty. The Government’s failure to do this will undoubtedly see more people face the prospect of homelessness. If this legislation were to be enacted, rents would be linked to the rate of inflation and rent increases would be limited over a period of time. It also updates the definition of homelessness to put an onus on local authorities to act in support of people who are facing homelessness.

The lipservice needs to end. A sea change in Government policy is needed. The Bill provides us with the perfect opportunity to move forward and to do something that actually works and makes a difference. I, therefore, call on all Deputies to do the right thing and vote in favour of this Bill.

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