Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have an opportunity to make a few points on this motion. I commend my colleagues who have introduced it. I particularly commend Deputy Thomas Byrne on his work over the years to highlight the impact of child homelessness on education. The work of the Children's Rights Alliance has been significant. It has produced a very good report and very good recommendations. There is no excuse for not seeking to implement all those recommendations as a matter of the utmost urgency. This motion seeks to establish a ring-fenced €5 million fund to provide additional things needed by homeless children when they are attending school. The money in question would be used for things like hot meals, clothing, books, psychological assessments and extracurricular activities. I suggest it is a modest amount, given the amount of money that is available to the Government. I know there are always competing priorities. When I think about the 1916 Proclamation, I am reminded that we are supposed to cherish "all the children of the nation equally". In that context, there can be no bigger priority than the 3,784 children who are currently homeless. The cost of addressing this would equate to €1,320 per child, if we look at it like that. I ask the Minister to petition the Department immediately, or to divert other funds as a matter of the utmost urgency to find the €5 million that is needed as an initial amount. If more money is available, the Minister should acquire it.

While I appreciate that the Minister, Deputy McHugh, is the Minister for Education and Skills, it is appropriate in the context of this motion that I raise housing issues with him too. We are engaged in an awful lot of superficial activity on the housing side. There is an awful lot of talk and an awful lot of commentary. There is an extreme lack of tangible action like the creation of supply, which means building. Our system of local authority house building is rife with duplication. We are telling experts in local authorities around the country that they can give private developers planning for 1,000 houses. When it comes to building ten houses in a place like Burtonport, Sligo, Roscommon or Collooney, we have to contend with an administrative merry-go-round of bureaucracy, which turns what the Government sees as a 59-week period for building houses into a six-year period in some instances. I fully support our efforts to meet our obligations to refugees. It is great that we can take our place in the international forum in bringing people to this country and giving them homes, but how is it that we are able to do that overnight? There is new centre in Moville, which is in the Minister's constituency. There is another new centre in Roscommon to cater for Syrians who badly need homes. I appreciate and support that, but why can we not do it for the 3,784 children who are homeless in our own country? I commend the motion. I ask the Minister to embrace the age-old principle that talk is cheap. It is time for tangible action. We have proposed some very workable solutions this afternoon.

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