Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister of State enjoyed his party conference at the weekend but people were bewildered by the comments that emanated from it. They were bewildered earlier in the weekend as to who advises the Taoiseach and who thought it would be a good idea for him to take a picture of himself putting a spoon into a dishwasher or shared pictures of his "Mr. Taoiseach" mug and another pair of the array of coloured socks he has been receiving from various companies. These were all photo stunts to convince the population that the Taoiseach has a personality and is one of us but all obliterated by the remarks made by the housing Minister and repeated at the party conference by the Taoiseach. It seems Fine Gael are homelessness deniers. The party's members were not willing to debate the most pressing social issue at the party conference, meaning that the main Government party was sending out the message "Crisis; what crisis?" This was followed, disgracefully, by a well-paid Government adviser, Mr. Skehan, whose services are paid for by the taxpayer, going on national radio to say that the poor will always be with us. It is quite incredible and these stark examples bring it home to people that nobody in the Government seems to care or to recognise the scale of this crisis.

I will deal with the figures. The OECD is probably a good place to start when it comes to comparing figures. It estimates six core forms of homelessness. Most countries count some but not all of the core forms and Ireland uses the narrowest definition, only counting three out of six categories, while 18 out of 30 countries count more than that. Ireland only counts three: sleeping rough, emergency accommodation and homeless accommodation. The Irish system does not count people in institutions, such as the cancer sufferer in my constituency who is in a convalescent home and who cannot be released because he has nowhere to go. It does not count non-conventional dwellings, such as caravans or mobile homes, which are very common, sheds in back gardens or tents. It does not count people living temporarily in conventional housing with family and friends due to the lack of housing, which is probably most of the people we come across at our constituency offices. Very few of these are counted but if they were, the figures for homelessness would be multiples of what they are. The other sleight of hand was using two-year old figures - from 2015 - even though the rate of homelessness has almost doubled in two years.

Even if all the figures the Government provided are accurate and we are in a great position by international standards, what comfort will that be to any person who is actually homeless tonight? Should the woman from Blanchardstown, which is my area and in the Taoiseach's constituency, who is bringing several children to three different schools from a bed and breakfast in Gardiner Street take comfort in the statement that we are doing well by international standards? This is an attempt to normalise homelessness and state that it is acceptable. This is what Mr. Skehan's comments were about.

It is true that homelessness is an international phenomenon and that the Government adheres to a neoliberal philosophy which dominates many administrations. This philosophy states that public housing is to be minimised and spending on it is to be slashed. The right to a home does not count for anything any more. One trips over homeless people in America, the richest country in the world, but that is nothing to boast about. It is incredible that the Minister thinks it was apt to state this at his party conference. People now see the reality of the situation.

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