Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Language is one of the first things one gets caught out on in politics. I recall the first time it happened to me. Soon after I was elected to the council in Kildare I received several letters from the county engineer in which he repeatedly told me that things were "desirable". I thought that meant the matters would be resolved. Then I discovered that "desirable" meant that the council would like to do it, but did not have the money. It was a nice way of saying that something was not going to happen. Once one gets an ear for such language, one pays attention to it. Every Member of the House will be in that position. In recent days, we have been hearing that 13,000 or 17,000 houses have been provided. The word "provided" does not mean built. Essentially, anybody who is homeless or at risk of homelessness will be hopeful about a large number of new houses coming on stream, even though only 28 houses were built last year. Let us be clear about that, as it is a very dishonest presentation.

I first started raising this issue more than three years ago when it became obvious that we were seeing a new type of homelessness emerging in my constituency. People were unable to afford rent and were required to top up the rent supplement. Everybody was topping up, but nobody in the Department of Social Protection believed it. The environment committee held meetings about it. I and other members had the subject included in the work schedule. We invited everybody involved, ranging from the local authorities to the homelessness agencies. The representatives of the Housing Agency told us that there was no shortage of money and that up to €500 million was available to be drawn down from the European Investment Bank. However, there had to be a co-guarantee arrangement by the Government to do that. I do not care whether the houses are provided by housing associations, local authorities, co-operatives or otherwise. I just wish to see houses built for people, not provided under the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. They must be built. There has been a fundamental dishonesty in that regard.

What we have at present is "hope for the best" politics. The Government is hoping that the private sector will come up with the goods. The HAP scheme is dependent on the private market. That scheme really is hapless. In many ways it is worse than rent supplement. There is a part of it that deals with the poverty trap and I acknowledge that is definitely a plus, but it has gone backwards in terms of the limits and the availability of accommodation for people. They now get less on the HAP scheme, even if they are at risk of homelessness, than they received in rent supplement. That has been my experience week after week.

There is also a huge amount of unrecorded homelessness that will present itself in the future. For example, I have been dealing with a couple who have a four week old baby. They lost a property due to a rent increase. Support was not sanctioned by the Department of Social Protection. They tried to register as homeless but they were advised that they had access to a family member's house. They are now sleeping on the sitting room floor, with the new baby on the sofa. Another couple with a four month old baby lost a property due to serious mould and disrepair. If people make a complaint to the landlord about the quality of the accommodation, the next thing that happens is they are out on their ear and it is claimed that a son or daughter wishes to move into the house. That couple tried to register as homeless with the local authority but were told to find a family member. I am also dealing with a single parent who has two children, aged 11 months and two and a half years. I do not know how many times she has been to my office and, indeed, to those of other Deputies in Kildare. She has tried numerous times but will not be registered as homeless.

The problem is that there is the homelessness we see where people are being put up in hotels, but in other parts of the country, such as Kildare, people cannot even get registered as homeless. They are left to their own devices to self accommodate. It is an absolute crisis.

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