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

During the past two years as the family homelessness crisis has spiralled out of control, many of us have had direct experience of very poor emergency accommodation conditions in which families are living. They may not be the norm and there are very many good quality, well run and well maintained facilities, but, for example, I refer to rooms with dampness and blood and urine stained mattresses, accommodation that we would not allow ourselves, let alone children, to stay in. Notwithstanding the fact that the Dublin Region Homeless Executive has those quality guidelines and they are HIQA compliant, surely the best way to ensure high quality standards in all emergency accommodation, whether it be the new hubs or existing emergency accommodation, not including hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, is that they be subject to an independent inspection regime. That is why the HIQA legislation was amended to include, for example, direct provision centres. It would be a really strong statement of the Minister's confidence in the emergency accommodation that his Department is funding if he would subject them to the same type of independent inspection regime so that everybody could be assured that they are meeting the high standards that he has outlined.

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