Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, I support the Bill.

This is a symptom of how society deals with people who find themselves homeless, not because they choose to be homeless but because society makes them homeless. Many Members in this House have stated how many are homeless today. There are 184 rough sleepers in Dublin today. That is 42% more than last year's figure. If anybody finds that normal, he or she is in the wrong game. They would be better off walking out the door here and walking away. That is not normal.

The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, even stated over the weekend that we have not seen the worst of this crisis. The Minister is right but the previous Minister said the exact same, as did his predecessor. Obviously, there is something wrong.

I also want to refer to comments that were made about people who are homeless, including by the Minister of State himself, the Taoiseach and others. They were completely crass and insensitive to people who find themselves in a crisis of homelessness. As I said in last week's debate, it is almost like social whitewashing of homelessness, such is the level of debate on the matter.

The devices to which this Bill refers are completely crude and dehumanising. The term for them is "defensive architecture", which is quite incredible. This is even worse than the term "gated communities". The message is "stay away, don't come here". There are other cities across the world where the situation is similar to that in Dublin but they try to cater, aesthetically for want of a better word, for people who find themselves homeless. I was in Lisbon last year where I discovered that lockers are provided for people who find themselves homeless. Homeless people are provided with lockers to store possessions such as clothes and blankets. I am not saying that is normal. It is abnormal but in a society where homelessness is prevalent, it is a good thing.

These devices are completely alien in a civilised society. Any business that erects such devices should be boycotted. It would be a good thing if the Government tried to eradicate homelessness, although I do not think it is capable of doing so. I do not mean that personally in respect of the Minister of State. I do not think Fine Gael is capable of doing it because it is ideologically wedded to a market system and it believes that homelessness is acceptable in a market economy. As long as that belief system prevails, we will always have homelessness. We need to change the system. There are 8,000 people in emergency accommodation, which is a disgrace. There are 190 people homeless in this city today, which is also a disgrace.

I urge the Minister of State to support this Bill. While it is largely cosmetic it will send out a message that this is not acceptable and that homelessness is not acceptable.

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