Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

All the actions spoken of by the Minister in the past few months do not address the fundamental problem of providing these children with a home, as opposed to supplying them with services while they are homeless. The psychological damage that these children are subjected to is predictable and avoidable. Not being able to have a normal life, which we would all have taken for granted growing up, is very hard to imagine. It is about not having a safe place or address to call their own, in which children can develop and grow, anchoring them in the community. It is about not having a place they can share with their friends and truly be themselves. It is about not being able to sit at a family table and enjoy a home-cooked meal. These are the psychologically damaging deficiencies that these children are subjected to. Will the Minister consider having child homelessness as her number one priority for children under her care?

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