Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

High rents are driving many families into homelessness. Many of these families are ending up in emergency accommodation, including the family hubs. Some time ago, People Before Profit Councillor Hazel Norton reached out to families in one of these hubs in Dublin and was shocked to be told that residents were only allowed out three nights per month, had to ask in advance to do so and had to be home by 10 p.m. Last weekend, journalist Mr. Martin Beanz Warde, interviewed two young single mothers in a hub elsewhere in the country. The young women said they felt they were constantly being watched. They said that if they came to their front doors at night, when their children were asleep, they were told they were neglecting to supervise their children and warned they could be reported to Tusla. They said that if they called into a neighbour's house at night, they were immediately phoned and told to go back to their own places. Mr. Warde highlighted reports of security checks with flashlights and residents constantly being told by staff that this was not their home.

There is a history of rotten and misogynistic treatment of women in institutions in this State. Look at the mother and baby homes and Magdalen laundries. I could be all night listing them. People know the story. This journalist, it seems to me, is asking the question as to whether some of the spirit of that tradition lives on today in some of the State's homeless services and family hubs. That is a legitimate question to ask. I look forward to hearing the other interviews he conducted, which he will post on social media during May. Any person who has experienced poor treatment of this kind is free to contact my office. I advise the Minister to keep an eye out for this issue. I suspect that this may not be the last we hear of it.

At the weekend, I went on a housing protest march and the Cork May Day march. I spoke to housing activists about this debate. An anti-dereliction campaigner asked me to say that 90,000 homes were identified as vacant by GeoDirectory with the addresses known. Surely these are ideal for compulsory rental. Some 22,000 homes were identified as derelict. Given their addresses are known, surely these homes are ideal for compulsory sale. Revenue has the owner details. Why can this not happen now?

An organiser with Community Action Tenants Union, CATU, Nora Labo, asked me to highlight that people are automatically removed from the housing list when they go on to HAP. Many of those who are evicted after a year on the HAP scheme find out only then that they are no longer on the housing list. There are more points I would like to make on that issue but I have gone over my time. I will return to this issue soon in future debates.

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