Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Homelessness is an absolute priority issue for me and the Government. Thankfully, in the last year, year-on-year, we have seen a significant reduction in homelessness, both in child and family homelessness and overall. There are issues with single person homelessness, rates of which remain stubbornly high. The overall number of people who are homeless is still far too high. All of us would agree with that assertion. The monthly figures will be published tomorrow. I have seen the preliminary figures and the trend within them is good. Having said that, it shows the challenge of the work that remains to be done in this space, particularly around the provision of permanent homes, and specifically for those to whom the Deputy has referred.

Of those who received notices of termination, 475 tenants sought protection under the self-declaration. I would ask any of those who have received a notice of termination to engage with the RTB and to look, in particular, at the protections that are there and the emergency rent supplement payments that are available.

However, it is an area that we are going to watch. Almost 300,000 tenancies were registered with the RTB by the end of 2020, and there were just over 1,120 notices of termination. Therefore, it needs to be put into context.

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