Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for ensuring that the homelessness figures were published today. It will make the debate more informed and up-to-date. My first thought on reading the figures in the last 20 minutes is that I am ashamed to be a Member of this 32nd Dáil. That is because we are presiding over the single most dramatic increase in child homelessness on record. If the Opposition feels ashamed - and I do not say that in any glib way - then surely the Minister should also feel shame at being part of a Government that is presiding over this level of increase.

There are 9, 846 people who are homeless, including 3,820 children. That is an increase of 137 children on the previous month and a 27% increase on the same time last year. More than any other set of figures, these speak volumes. I am not surprised. Like all politicians on the Government and Opposition benches, I spend almost all of my clinic time dealing with families that are now at risk of losing, are losing or have lost their homes. I notice that the profile of those families is beginning to change. It is not getting any better - it is getting worse. An increasing number of working families that are not even eligible for social housing are coming in with notices to quit, are unable to find alternative private rental and are seeking assistance.

I want to focus on some numbers and then talk about the faces behind them. Since the Minister and the Taoiseach have been in office, adult homelessness is up 24% and child homelessness is up 60%. Since Fine Gael returned to office in 2016, homelessness is up 32% and child homelessness is up 80%. I repeat, as I always do, that these figures do not include those adults and children in hostels in Dublin city - approximately 100 of them that are not funded by the Department - and it does not include the 2,500 children who go through Tusla-funded domestic violence emergency step-down accommodation in a given year. It also does not include the 500 or so adults and children who have leave to remain and who are trapped in direct provision and using that as emergency accommodation or the 857 adults and children recategorised in the previous two months. How is it possible that the Minister can even mention the word "progress" when that is scale of the increase.

I agree with the Minister about one thing, namely, that behind these figures are real people. I refer to the single mum in inappropriate emergency accommodation - no matter what kind - who is far away from school and family supports, the pensioner who does not know if he or she has night to night accommodation or if he or she will have a roof over his or her head tomorrow or the rough sleeper. There are rough sleepers and that is because some emergency accommodation is not acceptable, safe or appropriate. Some people have no other alternative other than to sleep rough. That is not to criticise the enormous good work done by the vast majority of emergency accommodation providers, it is a reflection of fact.

This all tells us that Rebuilding Ireland is not working. It is failing not just these 10,000 adults and children but many tens of thousands more. The rate of social housing delivery continues to be glacial despite the fact that we have continually recommended reducing the 18-month approval process to six months in order to facilitate quicker delivery. Rapid build is the most misnamed housing development project in the history of the State because it takes almost as long as standard housing. The Housing First targets are far too low. We need 2,000 to 3,000 Housing First units over the lifetime of Rebuilding Ireland to get long-term entrenched homeless singles out of emergency accommodation and not the 300 envisaged in the plan, albeit that those are welcome.

Action on vacant homes - particularly private vacant homes - is still too slow. The Minister has still not answered why, out of 1,800 vacant turnkey homes offered to the Housing Agency, only some 350 have been purchased. Action to prevent homelessness is mixed. There are some good initiatives - there is no doubt about that. The tenancy sustainment service from Focus Ireland is a case in point. If the Focus Ireland amendment to the Residential Tenancies Bill had been passed when we, along with others, tabled it in 2016, that would have kept hundreds, if not thousands, of families out of emergency accommodation. The Minister has a damn cheek to suggest that our criticisms of HAP is why people are nervous about it. There are good things about HAP but the fact that recipients are removed from the primary housing list acts as a disincentive. Fix it and leave those people on the primary housing list to meet their long-term social housing need. The Minister should be ashamed that he is failing these real people, these real adults and children, and he has to accept that his plan is not working and start listening to the alternatives being proposed by the Opposition. If he does not, we will be back here next month having exactly the same debate and that is not why I was elected to this Dáil.

See this speech in context