Dáil debates

Thursday, 14 April 2016

6:05 pm

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week Ms Erica Fleming, a young woman who has been living with her daughter, Emily, in emergency accommodation for the past nine months, briefed Deputies in Leinster House. She spoke about the stress of living in a single hotel room, the frustration of seeing empty, boarded-up homes across the city and the enormous cost to the taxpayer of keeping her and her daughter in cramped emergency accommodation. She said two things at the briefing that struck and stayed with me. At a very emotional moment in her talk she said she felt she was letting her daughter down. I wish to speak directly from the House to Erica and all the other parents whose children will spend tonight in emergency accommodation to say very clearly that they are not letting their children down. The 1,881 children who will sleep tonight in emergency accommodation are being let down by those in charge of the housing system, which is in crisis.

Erica also made a plea to those Deputies who attended the briefing last week. She urged us to work together to tackle the causes of the housing and homelessness crisis. It is not enough for me to come to the House today and point fingers. I accept the responsibility that comes with that. However, neither is it acceptable for those who are responsible for the housing crisis to blindly defend their record in the face of mounting evidence. What Erica's nine year old daughter, Emily, needs from us is that we sit down, roll up our sleeves and fix the problems that force so many families to live for months and, increasingly, years in emergency accommodation. That is the spirit in which Sinn Féin proposed the all-party group to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis. I am very pleased that earlier today in the House we had cross-party and Independent support for the committee to be established and start its work.

Sinn Féin's intention in proposing the committee was very simple. We wanted to create a forum in which Members could hear the experiences and listen to the advice of those working at the coal-face of the housing crisis. Having listened to those views, we want the committee to bring forward policy and legislative recommendations which could be implemented immediately to tackle the crisis. I agree with the Minister that some of these measures will have to be immediate, while others will be implemented in the medium to long term. However, the scale of the crisis is such that we must act now. The committee must start by accepting that the current approach to the housing crisis is not working. Some of the policies in place are making matters worse. We must find agreement on the measures which can be taken but which are not being taken to reduce the flow of people into homelessness. We must also put in place new and better ways to increase the supply of social and affordable housing and improve the regulation of the private rental sector. This means that all Deputies on all sides of the debate exploring and agreeing to options they may not previously have accepted. They must include options to stem the spiralling cost of rents, the rising rate of evictions and repossessions, the unacceptable length of time people are spending in emergency accommodation and on housing waiting lists, the high cost of homes for many first-time buyers and the slow pace of housing supply increase in the public and private sectors. Sinn Féin will bring forward positive, costed and constructive proposals on all of these matters for consideration and listen to the proposals made by all other parties.

Emily Fleming will soon have spent almost a full year of her young life in emergency accommodation. That is unacceptable. Those of us with the privilege to speak in the House cannot allow that situation to become normalised. The committee on housing and homelessness must meet as a matter of urgency - I suggest it do so this week - to start the business Emily and the 1,880 other children who tonight do not have homes so desperately need us to get on with.

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