Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like many people, I get quite traumatised talking about this issue. It is an appalling failure of our system. Without bashing anybody, I want to impress on Government that 3,800 children are homeless. It is shameful and unacceptable. If we, as Parliament and as politicians, are not able to solve this problem, one would wonder what is our role.

Another aspect of this concerns me greatly. There is a certain resignation in society that this is the way it has to be. That is very sad. Can one imagine the trauma of a child this evening coming from school to a hotel room tonight? Can one imagine the trauma of a parent or parents dealing with that situation? Can one imagine the trauma of children who are not able to go to school in a normal and natural way and who hide from their friends the fact that they have no home and no roof over their heads? As we speak in this Chamber this evening, almost 4,000 children are in that situation. It traumatises me to the extent that I often wake up at night and think of my own two children, one of whom is now a young adult and one a teenager. I shudder to think about them being in that situation. I compare them with those people who I know are in this very traumatic situation.

The scars of homeless on our young people never go away. I assure the Minister of State of that. As has been already mentioned, this is now a nationwide problem; it is no longer urbanised. The fear and trauma it brings into people's lives is shocking. It raises the question, is our Constitution ruptured? What happened to "cherishing all the children of the nation equally"? Where has that gone? It does not mean anything any more because, especially in respect of homelessness, we definitely do not cherish all the children of the nation equally.

Deputy Thomas Byrne has been very much to the fore with outstanding ideas in respect of education matters over a number a years. In this document he mentions specific issues that could be dealt with. This issue is traumatic and sad. As a nation and a people, we cannot become resigned to the fact that this is the way it is going to be. It is not. We must make dramatic changes.

See this speech in context