Dáil debates

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Housing and Homelessness: Statements

 

5:15 pm

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was disappointed by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government's contribution at the outset of the debate. It was unnecessarily combative and defensive, it hit all the wrong notes and it was not particularly constructive either. As an outsider looking in at the proceedings of the House over the past five years, I have watched the Minister blame everybody for the housing crisis except the Government. He blamed Fianna Fáil, but that wore a little thin and the electorate saw through that after a while. He blamed the local authorities and, most regrettably of all, he blamed the housing agencies and those at the coalface. We need a constructive debate. This is a new Dáil. Many constructive ideas have been outlined even in this limited debate. It is time to start again with the new ideas that are coming forward and all of us need to work together to solve this problem.

By Christmas 2015, in the Dublin regional homeless executive area, 466 families with 966 dependants were in hotels while 217 families with 443 dependants were in homeless accommodation, giving a total of 683 families with 1,409 dependants. Fr. Peter McVerry said that if this continues, 3,000 children will be in emergency accommodation by 2017. That is unacceptable. As a city councillor until recently, as was the case for many other public representatives, housing and homelessness was the major issue to be dealt with every day. We have had the ongoing problem of rough sleepers but, more recently, families have become homeless because of increasing rents. People who never thought they would become homeless have suddenly found themselves in that position. Everyday life for such families is a struggle. First, in the Dublin area, they must register with the Dublin regional homeless executive in Parkgate Hall, which sometimes necessitates two bus journeys with entire families being dragged across the city. They have to live in one-room accommodation in hotels and they are often treated as second-class citizens in those hotels. Parents have to try to get to work and get their children to school while the children have to try to do their homework in these conditions. These children will have little opportunity unless we do something for them.

This is not acceptable. We need to declare a national emergency. A total of 130,000 households comprising 350,000 individuals are on our social housing lists. As an immediate step, the State needs to build more private social and affordable housing, a subject to which we need to return.

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