Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I missed him in the men's shed last week. I was there a few minutes after he arrived. St. Mary's Parish Men's Shed is a good facility.

I trust that with the answer he has just given, the Minister of State is being sincere. However, none of what he said bears fruit in the real world. Families are desperate. Rental prices are too high and too few, if any, properties are available. This has put immense stress on people. As I said, the homeless services are under severe pressure. They do a fantastic job but they cannot house people when there is no accommodation available. I want to know what we are going to do.

The Government's failure to provide a sufficient level of new social housing, coupled with the shrinking private market, is driving homeless presentations. The figures speak for themselves. The number of homeless adults and children has risen to over 10,000 according to the Department's own figures. On the Minister's watch, there has been a 24% increase in homelessness compared with the same month last year. As with house prices, there is increase after increase. The figures for adult homelessness tell us there are 283 adults homeless in Limerick. Obviously, there are many more people who have nowhere to stay and there are more on the streets than we have ever seen. Many are couch-surfing or just living in very poor conditions, often in extremely overcrowded homes. Many such people are not on any of these lists. The mid-west has 109 homeless children, the bulk of whom are in Limerick city. What is striking and also very disappointing about these figures is the number of young adults in homeless accommodation. People who should be in the most exciting period of their lives are battling with having to settle for homeless accommodation. There has been a 70% increase year on year in these figures.

There is something seriously wrong, and if the Minister of State thinks the Government's housing plan is working, he is delusional. I do not say that as a means of abusing him but I do not think he gets exactly what is happening on the ground. My office is inundated as a result of this and it is not the only one. As we speak, there is no emergency accommodation available. Where are people supposed to go?

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