Dáil debates

Thursday, 21 November 2019

Supporting Children out of Emergency Accommodation and into Homes: Statements

 

2:00 pm

Photo of Denise MitchellDenise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I could have copied and pasted the speech I gave last year on this issue because the only change since then is that the number affected has increased. There are now almost 4,000 homeless children in this State. That is the Ireland the Government has created, where the better off prosper while those who must do without suffer. The figures do not account for the homeless families who self-accommodate or those who double up with family or friends. Thousands of children are sleeping two or three to a bed in a single room in the home of a relative, while their parents sleep on the floor. No one knows what effect this is having on young children. Homelessness is stealing the developmental years from thousands of children. More important, it is robbing them of their childhood. The Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, of which I am a member, recently launched a report on the impact of homelessness on children. Homeless children are more likely to have poor school attendance, poor diet, inadequate rest and poor living conditions. Numerous studies have shown the detrimental impact of homelessness on children's physical, mental and emotional health.

I believe all Members will agree the State is actively harming children by denying them a home of their own. For what? So that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil can enrich and empower the better off in society, the elite who they have always striven to put to the top of the pile while forgetting about everybody else. Fine Gael crowed about how it brought Ireland through austerity and rebuilt the economy and it now tells us it is rebuilding Ireland. No one in areas of my constituency such as Darndale, Coolock and Baldoyle would agree that it is doing so. Those living in a family hub, where families are crammed in like sardines, would not agree it is rebuilding Ireland. Hannah, aged 8, who was referenced in a report compiled by the Ombudsman for Children and entitled "No place like home", would not agree that Fine Gael is rebuilding Ireland. She described the hub in which she was living as a jail for children. She was worried because her five-year-old brother had tried to run away on several occasions. According to Charlie, aged six, "[Living here] makes me feel sad. There’s nothing nice about how I feel." Rachel, aged ten, stated, "Some days I didn’t even want to wake up because I didn’t want to face this day". The report quoted Thomas, aged 16, as stating, "I don’t tell people I live here, it’s a homeless hub ... it’s embarrassing. It’s horrible, it’s not nice."

The Minister of State will claim that the Government understands. He will mournfully state that it is doing all it can and that no child should experience such horrible circumstances. That is all well and good but what is the Government doing about it? It has done nothing in recent years. The homeless numbers have been increasing since Fine Gael took office. Month on month and year on year, more people have been entering homeless accommodation.

Sinn Féin tabled a motion of no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, in September of last year. He survived the motion thanks to the inaction of Fianna Fáil. Those speaking on behalf of Fianna Fáil would do well to remember that it is only its cynical support for a Government it claims to oppose that is keeping Fine Gael in power. Fianna Fáil is directly supporting the Government and its shameful record in addressing the housing crisis that plagues this State. Perhaps Fianna Fáil Deputies will reflect on that.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.