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

It is strange that the problem has increased by 300% during the Tánaiste's time in office as a consequence of the Government prioritising tackling it. I understand that she must defend the Government's position. However, given her background in social care and her time as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I can only imagine how this issue makes her feel in private. In some ways, it makes her defence of Government policy failures even more remarkable. As the family homelessness crisis was spiralling out of control in August 2015, the Taoiseach, Deputy Kenny, stated "If a family becomes homeless in Dublin this evening as a result of being moved out of a B&B, ...the local authority ... will have the resources to supply emergency accommodation for that family." Two years on from that statement, families are being left on the street or in Garda stations. I will once more ask the Tánaiste the question she did not answer the first time: will the Government release emergency funding to allow local authorities to buy homes to ensure that no child spends more than six months in emergency accommodation?

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