Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This week's "RTÉ Investigates" documentary "Stuck in the Rough" was hard to watch. It revealed the harsh reality of life in the streets and people forced to sleep rough. Three of those people, Dan, Natalie and Joe, spoke openly and honestly about their lives, how they became homeless and their hopes for their future. Listening to them was heartbreaking. Dan, Natalie and Joe are being failed by the homeless system and by this Government.

The documentary showed how Dan and Joe were refused emergency accommodation because they had no local connection on a night when there were 75 beds in Dublin hostels. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage , Deputy Darragh O'Brien, told the Dáil last year that this practice would end. On Tuesday night of this week, Mendicity, a homeless day service in Dublin, confirmed it is still happening. Will the Tánaiste state clearly that the practice of refusing people emergency accommodation on local connection grounds must end? Will he personally contact the director of the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive to make clear that this is the express policy of the Government?

See this speech in context