Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will start by referring to a headline - Republic of Homeless? - which was followed by some facts: 8,270 homeless people; 3,048 homeless children; more than 73,000 mortgages in arrears; 120,000 people on local authority housing lists; 141 repossessions taking place per month; two families becoming homeless per day; 46% of all homeless people are under 24 years of age; life expectancy for a homeless woman is 38; life expectancy for a homeless man is 42; and 8,000 units being built but there is demand for 25,000. This does not include those who are struggling to pay exorbitant rents in the private sector such as young workers who have to move away from home and pay more than 50% of their income in rent. Students who moved to main urban areas or come from outside the State to attend college have huge difficulty in finding affordable housing. Another headline stated "hide the bunkbeds" as a major slum landlord operation was uncovered and it was revealed that more than 40 houses and apartments in slum conditions were being run by a group. This is a crisis and it requires urgent action. It is an emergency and should be declared as such, and I commend Deputy Healy on tabling this Private Members' motion tonight.

Two weeks ago we had a non-event of a budget from Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It was a budget that did nothing to alleviate widespread consistent poverty affecting 140,000 children or to recognise the crisis of our health service. Yesterday a leading medical expert predicted the collapse of the health service if we have a serious outbreak of 'flu this winter. It was a budget that completely failed to recognise the housing and homelessness crisis.

We probably have had a Private Members' motion on housing every week since we returned from the summer recess and I support this motion. However, I am convinced that we will get no movement on this crisis unless a mass movement is built outside this building, a movement on the streets to unify hundreds of thousands who are affected in one way or another and to demand a new approach based on the right to housing as opposed to the right to profit for developers, landlords, vulture funds, hotels and banks. Right2Change is organising a conference on 4 November, Saturday week, and will be discussing this and, my God, we will see people out on the streets shortly.

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