Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic. I submitted it yesterday but it was not selected for debate then. In the intervening period, the use of Lynam's Hotel has ceased. However, the question remains as to how a decision was made to allow seven children and eight adults to be accommodated in essentially a construction site with faulty electricity, no running water in some parts of the building and, most seriously of all, padlocks on the fire doors. At any time this would be a disgrace, but following the Grenfell Tower disaster it is all the more shocking. For anyone looking at them, the pictures of the padlocked doors would call to mind the Stardust. I do not think we should ever forget the lesson we were taught on that occasion.

We are potentially inviting a similar tragedy by not prioritising safety and quality when accommodating families whose only choice is either to take the risk or sleep on the streets. On Wednesday, Dublin Fire Brigade shut down Lynam's Hotel but on Monday somebody in the emergency accommodation section of Dublin City Council made a decision to put those families in harm's way. When questioned, Dublin City Council said it used the building - it is not quite so much a building as it is building site - when, after 10 p.m. on Monday, there was nowhere else to put families. The housing and homelessness crisis has got so bad that council officials are knowingly putting families with young children in harm's way. Thankfully, Dublin Fire Brigade has shut down Lynam's Hotel. My information is there have been 22 other instances where it has recommended units be closed down but where families have continued to be housed in them while remedial work is being undertaken.

Another point which must be made is that while the physical conditions in Lynam's Hotel were bad enough, there were also no properly trained staff available, no support workers for parents who found themselves sleeping in dangerous buildings with their young children and no linked services such as those provided by Tusla. Lynam's Hotel is being developed as a future family hub. There is a whole other debate regarding why we are investing in hubs and not houses. An urgent review of the criteria used to assess unsuitability for use as emergency accommodation is urgently required. This must include the provision of support services to those who find themselves having to use such units.

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