Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

-----if we had to identify a single issue, this, to me, is the most important in the country bar none. The Taoiseach is the chairman of the Cabinet committee on housing. He is chairing the only committee that has all of the relevant Ministers, that is cross-departmental in nature and that is meant to cut out cross-cutting issues and all of that jargon. However, everything that committee does is subservient to ensuring the making of private profits on the market.

It is absolutely terrible to be homeless at any time but to be homeless at Christmas is the most upsetting thing, particularly for children. I can say that having dealt with people who are facing into it. We have all been familiar with children asking their parents how Santa will come and how he will know where we are, etc. It is the most horrific time for any family to face homelessness. I do not think that there is any other Taoiseach in recent history who has stood over families being homeless for successive Christmases. Not only were those to whom I refer homeless last year, many are facing a second Christmas of homelessness. I am not talking about people who experience an abundance of social issues that might lead them to become homeless. I am referring to the likes of Ms Erica Fleming, who is well known, who worked as a receptionist for a well-known paint company and who pays taxes and has done for many years in this country.

A woman like that, with her daughter, should be able to get a roof over her head in this city but because of policies the Taoiseach is standing over, she is now facing homelessness for a second Christmas. I do not know if the Taoiseach has anything to say to her or to the other families in the same position.

Last week in the Dáil the Taoiseach referred to the tsunami of homeless as having had a "slight increase". I challenge the Taoiseach on that because the increase is not slight. The latest figures on homelessness in Dublin were published last week. I will confine my comments to Dublin for the moment. I am aware that there is a homelessness problem in other parts of the country but the bulk of homelessness in the country is in Dublin, which is why I am focusing on it. There were 2,110 children in 1,026 families in emergency accommodation in the last week of October. A total of 67 families with 133 children became newly homeless last month. I will repeat that for the Taoiseach - 67 families became homeless last month. The Taoiseach told the Dáil earlier today that his Government has the most comprehensive housing programme in the history of the State. Indeed, the former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, used to say the same thing. The Government's housing programme is clearly not working and I would like the Taoiseach to admit that. I would like him to admit that we have an emergency and to say that there will be a change of course.

There has been an increase of 45 in the number of homeless children in Dublin since September 2016. There has been an increase of 639 in the number of homeless children since October 2015. These statistics were provided in response to parliamentary questions I submitted a week ago. There has been an increase of 349 in the number of homeless families since October 2015. In total, there are now 5,146 homeless families in emergency accommodation in Dublin. That does not include the 140 people who were counted sleeping rough on the streets last week - the Taoiseach referred earlier to a figure of 115. Nor does it include the 70 people sleeping on the floor in the Merchant's Quay cafe or those sleeping in tents in the Phoenix Park. I do not know if the Taoiseach has seen them. The total does not include people sleeping in derelict buildings or on park benches. Indeed, according to Fr. Peter McVerry, the true figure for rough sleeping would be twice as high if all of those people were included. Furthermore, the figure does not include the 16 women per day who are turned away from refuges and who face the choice of homelessness or returning to a violent abuser. The total does not include homeless non-nationals who are dealt with by the Department of Social Protection's new communities unit. The true homelessness figure is much higher than the official one.

What is causing this? The Taoiseach chairs the Cabinet committee at which several Ministers attend. I do not have time to go into the record of each Department but in terms of Social Protection, cutting the dole for young people will not help. The lack of refuge spaces, for which the Minister for Justice and Equality is responsible, will not help. The response of the Minister for Finance was to focus time and attention on the first-time buyer's tax rebate of €20,000 which will go straight into the pockets of developers and push up the price of housing.

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