Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am no different from any other Deputy in the stories I hear in my constituency office and clinics. In the past ten days I have met a family of a man, his wife and their two children. The woman is pregnant and expecting twins in a few months. They are in emergency accommodation and are concerned over where they might find emergency accommodation capable of housing the six of them. In the past six days I met two different parents who have to share a bed with a teenage child because of overcrowding. There are countless more stories as bad as or worse than that. That is the human cost of the crisis we are dealing with.

People realise there is pressure but they do not understand why nothing is happening. They have heard about the housing crisis for three years or so - in reality it has probably been going on for seven or eight years. This institution and the media noticed the crisis in the past three years. People are wondering why nothing is happening. It is the cause of enormous frustration. The reality is that we have not been building enough social housing for 15 years. Even in the past three years there has been nothing near an adequate reaction and the delivery of social housing.

I wish to touch on three issues that need to be acknowledged. Nothing is being done for those people whose income is above the social housing limit. They have very few options and we are still awaiting the affordable housing scheme.

The issue of HAP has been well rehearsed. Forcing people to go on the transfer list takes away from people the sense that there will be a permanent solution at some stage. Worse, it is needless. It could be resolved immediately by allowing them to be on the standard housing list. That should be done.

People becoming homeless can do nothing to prepare until the day they are made homeless. People are told to show up at the homeless service on the day they are made homeless. Why can they not have the opportunity to prepare in the days in advance?

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