Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The intention behind this Bill is worthy. We all agree there is a problem with the construction of spikes that prevent rough sleeping. It is a sad reality that, on the streets of our cities and towns, homeless people seek shelter in doorways and porticos. It is regrettable that property owners feel the need to place spikes at ground floor points to prevent this. Introducing planning legislation to prevent the placement of spikes is the wrong way to counter the practice, however. In our view, planning guidelines should state the specific security measures and locations that require and do not require planning permission. This would involve each local authority taking account of the particular circumstances of its area, for example, the acute circumstances of rough sleepers in Dublin city centre compared with circumstances in rural local authority areas. A common-sense approach would involve not only each local authority but also, in the Dublin example, local chambers of commerce co-operating to ensure spikes that are unsafe, unwelcoming and ugly are avoided at all costs.

Most home and business owners are willing to engage with the practical issues that arise from rough sleeping on our streets. The text of this Bill is so poorly drafted, however, that its effect could easily have an impact on the legitimate rights of property owners to protect their homes and businesses from criminal damage or burglary. The critical section of the Bill states, "development shall not be exempted development which has the object or effect of deterring a homeless person from obtaining shelter from a structure, building or land". This is a very broad definition as nearly all legitimate security measures could easily be said to have the effect of deterring a homeless person. This is not the intention but I repeat to those who introduced this Bill that this is the wrong way to deal with planning matters such as this.

Just last night, this House debated the dreadful fear that home owners and businesses are experiencing because of rural crime. Rural property owners, in particular, are vulnerable to being attacked, almost at will, by gangs that use our roads, such as the M11 and N81, to target properties all over Wicklow. This Bill could easily be misused to deter rural property owners from using legitimate security measures to protect themselves, their families and their properties from these criminal gangs. One has only to read the text to realise what I am talking about. I have been dealing with planning applications for more than 15 years, so I know the implications of the text.

The Bill is not workable, not practical and can be easily be misinterpreted. The issue of homelessness, with all the human tragedy it entails, and the issue of rough sleepers deserve far more comprehensive treatment than is evident in this Bill, however well-intentioned. There are complex reasons people are forced to sleep on our streets. Irish people are compassionate and regard the homelessness crisis as an unacceptable blight on their society. The Parliament of the people must take this crisis as seriously as it has taken the financial crisis. This Government still does not get it, and it still regards this crisis as normal. This is not good enough.

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