Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I proceed, I wish to place on record the fact hat my family business in Glendalough has been used previously to house children in family homelessness.

During my previous contribution on child and family homelessness in our Republic, I concluded by pleading to the Government to immediately declare homelessness a national emergency. Our homelessness national emergency needs a massive response from Government that should include daily targets and reports. We must declare that the common good of our people dictates that the Government ensures a minimum standard of housing for all our people.

I wish I could state that there is a better reality to report but the facts remain the same. In February 2016, the homelessness report figures indicated that 1,881 children and 795 families were living in emergency accommodation. In February 2019, the there were 3,784 children and 1,707 families living in emergency accommodation. This is in the three years since the Government, which claims that it is on top of the situation and that Rebuilding Ireland is working, came to office. The Government spin machine is of the view that a 101% increase in child homelessness and an 87% increase in family homelessness are acceptable. What about the former Minister's pledge to end the use of hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families by July 2017? Today, as 900 children are been accommodated in family hubs - another failed policy - there are still 1,903 living in hotels. There are now more children living in hotels than was the case when the then Minister made his pledge in 2017.

The lifelong damage being inflicted on children from their experience of homelessness will mirror the trauma of children and families across the globe. What it say about this crisis in child homelessness that we are putting tourists into homes in Dublin while Irish families are crammed into hotel rooms throughout our capital city? The report by the Ombudsman for Children, which gives witness to the lived experience of homelessness by children living in family hubs, should be read by every Minister and by every other Member of this House. The contents of the No Place Like Home report should be seared into the brain every policy influencer in Ireland. On a day when we are considering history’s place as a subject on the school curriculum, this report is a living historical record of the shameful failure of the Government's response to family homelessness. In it, Noah, aged ten, writes, “I hate everything”. Róisín, aged nine, when asked about what was good about the hubs, wrote, “Nothing.” The parents of three-year old Oisín and one-year old Niamh speak honestly about raising children in this environment:

We have two rooms, but every single night he comes in with us, whereas before he would just go off to bed. He has become very clingy to me. I’ve put a lot of work into him now... to help him manage his emotions... At night-time you have to try to keep them quiet, everything to do with parenting, it is so hard in this environment.

Children’s wisdom and sense of injustice is also recounted. Five-year old Darragh, who informed his parents that he was packing his clothes and leaving, stated simply about the lack of housing, "It is not fair." Rachel, aged ten, says, "Visiting arrangements are not fair." The shame and embarrassment felt by our homeless children is expressed by ten-year old Kim, "I don’t like to tell my friend that I live in a hotel, because they might make fun of me." Kim and her family should not feel shamed and embarrassed. Everyone in this Chamber should feel shamed and embarrassed.

Every Minister should feel ashamed and embarrassed. If Government policies are not working, they need to be changed or dumped immediately.

I have been vocal on the impact of short-terms letting platforms and in my first contribution to the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government three years ago, I was the first Deputy to raise the impact that these platforms were having on the rental market in Dublin and to highlight that homes that could be used for families were being used for tourists. Three years ago, I warned about this and at the time I was accused of scaremongering and attacking short-term letting platforms by vested interests. It is important that all changes to this industry take into account that family and child homelessness cannot continue in this way.

As we approach the summer tourism season the capacity of hotels will increase and the availability of accommodation for families will decline. There are warnings from around the world about how cold governments can be about families that are homeless and looking for shelter. We cannot be here patting ourselves on the back for our international responsibilities and solidarity on issues such as Brexit, while thousands of Irish children are homeless. As the Easter break approaches, the time for Government soundbites is over. Ministers with solemn faces and press briefings to get over the local and European election cycle will not work either. This Government needs to deliver.

The Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government has worked in a positive manner to assist and help regulation through this Dáil in the interest of the common good. The committee has carried out a comprehensive review of the impact of short-term lettings and issued a full report. Fianna Fáil has introduced a Bill regulating this sector. It is clear and not questioned that there are thousands of properties, excluding homeshare properties, available for letting on the short-term letting platforms. There are significantly more than are required to house the 1,707 families and 3,780 children who are in emergency accommodation. This requires a definition of what short-term letting is, which the Minister is working on in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 and by introducing amendments to the Planning and Development Act. I have spoken openly on this. What the Minister is doing is required but it will not regulate the short-term letting industry, and we need regulation. This requires the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to introduce the regulation. The Minister, Deputy Murphy, has clearly stated that he is the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and that he does not have responsibility for tourism.

The Minister reaches across this Chamber looking for support from Opposition parties which he receives with regard to significant regulation that will help to deal with the housing crisis. Where is the collective responsibility of Cabinet? It is simply not good enough for the Taoiseach, the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues to blame a minority Government all the time. His own Cabinet cannot act in a collective manner. The Minister's colleague does not accept that there is a child homelessness crisis that needs a whole-of-Government response. Who is driving the bus and controlling Government policy? It definitely does not look like the Minister or the Taoiseach.

Fianna Fáil has tried repeatedly to urge this Government to act radically on child and family homelessness. We have given this Government every opportunity to give this crisis the attention it deserves. The lifelong damage being inflicted on Irish children from their experience of homelessness in Ireland will mirror the trauma of children and families around the world. Governments throughout the world pay far too much lipservice to caring about families experiencing homelessness, and not enough action to resolve it. This Government is currently part of the problem in tackling child and family homelessness. A national emergency should be declared now before Ireland joins an international list of shameful responses to those in need of shelter, help and a place to call home. I will conclude with the wisdom and grace of Irish children. Eight year old Hanna said, "I need a house", while nine year old, Róisín, said, "Get a house." The Minister must deliver more homes.

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