Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The question I asked has not been answered. I refer to an increase in the homeless HAP for living outside the Dublin area. As the Minister of State said, it is possible to avail of a rate 20% above the maximum rate outside the Dublin area, but discretion in this regard is set at 50% inside the Dublin area. I ask that the level of discretion be set at 50% across the State. I think that would be fair. We have seen dramatic increases in rent in every county. What we have now are people struggling. I am talking about people who are entitled to a payment but for whom that payment is not enough to allow them to secure a roof over their head.

I spoke earlier about the number of children in emergency accommodation. Outside Dublin, 735 children will be going to bed tonight in unsuitable and unstable accommodation. Most children are looking forward to the summer and to holidays, summer camps and getting to the beach. The worry for these 735 children is whether they will have a roof over their heads. This is the situation these families are facing. Homelessness in families outside Dublin is increasing. It is a significant increase. From March to April this year, we saw the number of families affected increase from 337 to 352. People are desperate and they need support. Great mistakes were made in Dublin years ago when the homelessness figures skyrocketed. This same problem is now happening outside Dublin. I do not know if the Minister, the Minister of State and the Department understand the number of people now facing homelessness this summer. It took the Government years to act when this kind of problem hit Dublin. This type of tsunami is coming to the rest of the State. The Government must act now.

We have a situation in Cork and other cities where the numbers in homeless accommodation are increasing rapidly. There is also the element of hidden homelessness. It has been estimated by St. Vincent de Paul that 30,000 people are in hidden homelessness. This is on top of the 10,000 people we know of.

That amounts to 40,000 people, one third or 13,000 of whom are children.

A recent report from the Simon Community, Locked Out of the Market, found that there were only 80 properties available under HAP. This is a drastic reduction of 92% on the figure of 906 properties that were available in June 2021. We are in dire straits. The Peter McVerry Trust and other organisations are saying we need to act now.

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