Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Following Deputy Mitchell's contribution, I highlight that at least 910 young people are homeless and there are perhaps many more in overcrowded accommodation. With regard to the aftercare issue and children leaving care, as Deputy Mitchell said, 12% of young people leaving care are homeless, and one third are at risk of homelessness. The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 that Senator James Reilly authored had some valuable elements but there were also significant shortfalls. The Act provided for an entitlement to an aftercare plan, drafted while in care, but it did not provide any entitlement to the actual care. That is a significant difficulty. A plan is very well and good on paper, but if there are not resources and designated people to put that in place, then it is just a piece of paper.

In 2017, I drafted legislation, the aftercare entitlement Bill. I was unable to introduce it due to Standing Orders as it would incur a charge on the Exchequer but I sent it to the Minister, Deputy Zappone, and I will send it to the Minister, Deputy Murphy, after this debate. It proposes designating a named person on behalf of Tusla to oversee the implementation of an aftercare plan and entitlement to supported accommodation for care leavers immediately after leaving the care system, implementing a system of review and engagement with the care leaver on a routine basis, and extending the age of entitlement to 27. That is supported by EPIC and the Irish Aftercare Network. I hope the Minister and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will consider it. Aftercare is vitally important. In the grand scheme of things, this is a relatively small cohort but it is a cohort who are at much heightened risk of poverty and homelessness. They need greater support. Everybody should have an aftercare plan but there need to be supports.

I will address the report on family hubs.

10 o’clock

I want to take this opportunity to highlight a case. We have to be honest about this and I recognise that family hubs are preferable to what was there beforehand, namely, bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels and so on. The difficulties with them if they become a long-term solution for people and if they become where people end up for extended periods of time are obvious from the Ombudsman's report, with children describing them as being like a prison and so on. It is extremely upsetting and when one deals with these families and talks to the parents, they are so upset at how embarrassed and traumatised the children sometimes are by all this.

I want to give the example of a constituent of mine, Stephanie McSweeney. She has been on Cork City Council's housing list for almost 11 years. She was made homeless a few weeks ago. She was in a family hub but as of today she has had to leave the family hub because I suppose the council is saying that somebody of higher need needs that room. She is now being sent to Kinsale almost 20 miles away. She does not drive, she works in the city and her children go to school in the city, so she will have to get the bus in and out from Kinsale every day. This is a family with two children. She has been failed by not being offered a house after nearly 11 years, she has been failed by the inability of this Government to put legislation in place to prevent people being evicted into homelessness and she has been failed because she is not being allowed to stay in the emergency accommodation that has been provided to her in that family hub. That is unacceptable, there are many families in similar situations and they are being failed desperately.

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