Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

People listening to this debate will think that it is absolutely scandalous and flabbergasting that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage does not know the number of people who die in homelessness in 25 of the 26 counties which this State, that there is no process to collect information in this regard or collate it centrally and that such information is not at his fingertips. If he cannot analyse or measure a critical problem of lives being lost, how in God’s name is he supposed to be able to fix it?

On the "RTÉ Investigates" programme to which I refer, statistics were provided which showed that a large number of people who are homeless become drug addicts after they become homeless. Sometimes we hear a debate to the effect that people are responsible for their own misfortunes. They certainly are not. People have been failed by the system in this country. The only safety nets that are being provided to many are those offered by the charities and the individuals who are out, night after night. In the context of the debate on this matter, we need to pay attention to the work they are doing and commend them on it. Will the Minister meet representatives from Inner City Helping Homeless and get from them some of the details they possess regarding the reality on the streets?

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