Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The most recent reports from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage tell us that homelessness in the State is that the highest level ever recorded since the modern reporting method was introduced. As the Minister of State knows, in August there were over 10,800 adults and more than 3,000 children in Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage-funded emergency accommodation. The Minister of State also knows that the real level of homelessness, including adults and children in emergency accommodation funded by other Government Departments, is much higher. The latest figures from the Department of Justice tell us that there are more than 4,500 adults and children with the legal right to remain in this country and refugee status, who are trapped in direct provision, essentially using it as emergency accommodation. We know that on any given night, Tusla-funded domestic violence refuges hold about 600 women and children fleeing coercive control and domestic and sexual violence. At any one time, there are between one and 200 adults and some children in religious institution-run emergency accommodation not funded by the State. On homelessness in terms of rough sleepers, we know that there are at least 100 people on any given night in those areas where they are counted. That actually means that tonight, the number of adults and children in one form of emergency accommodation or another or sleeping rough on the streets is about 16,200. That does not include the unaccounted homeless - all those adults and children who are in what is known as own-door transitional accommodation funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the many thousands of people who are sofa surfing. Whatever way it is counted, we have the worst homelessness crisis in the modern history of this State. Since Deputy O'Brien has been the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and he is almost approaching his halfway mark, almost all categories of homelessness have increased. In his almost two and a half years in charge, adult homelessness is up 25%. The highest level of homelessness among single adults has been recorded, and is up 19%. The number of families with children in emergency accommodation is up 28%, and the number of children in such accommodation is up 25%.

The question has to be asked as to why this is happening. What is it that is going on, since this Government took office, that is leading to this catastrophe? The central reason why homelessness is spiralling out of control is because of the low, and continually missed, social housing targets of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. First of all, those targets are too low. I keep making the point that this Government actually has a lower social housing output than was previously included in the original Fine Gael national development plan, but the Department is not even meeting that target. In 2020 we fell short of social housing targets by 25%, and in 2021, it was 30%. That is 5,969 social homes that should have been delivered that have been lost to the system. If we want to know why so many people are currently homeless, that is the key missing part of the answer. The Minister of State knows that as of the halfway point of this year, only 20% of the targeted 9,000 social homes will be delivered. We will wait eagerly to see what is the final output. On top of that, despite the fact that we were calling for the reintroduction of the tenant in situscheme last year, through which local authorities would buy properties with HAP, RAS or rent supplement tenants in situ, that has only been reintroduced recently and the instruction to the local authorities is not strong enough. I will come back to that point later. The affordable housing targets themselves are an embarrassment. They are so low as really to suggest that this Government is not serious about either cost rental or affordable purchase, and even those low targets cannot be met. Worse still, we still do not have any meaningful action on raising the thresholds for social housing eligibility, so people who cannot actually afford to buy or rent in the market also cannot access social housing supports and are left languishing in homelessness.

At some point there has to be a lightbulb moment when the Minister of State's Government realises that in fact, the cause of this homeless problem is not what is going on in the private rental sector. That is a trigger and it is not helping. It is the Government's failure, policy, inaction and missed targets. That is why today the Minister of State is bringing forward this emergency Bill, a Bill, in fact, that the Minister of State's party did not want to introduce. Indeed, several days before it was approved at Cabinet, the Minister of State's party leader, the Tánaiste, was very hostile to its introduction in his public remarks. It is the Government's housing policy failure that has led us to where we are. Some 19 of our local authorities have no emergency accommodation on any given night and the rest are almost full to capacity.

Let me be very clear. As the Minister of State is aware, we have been calling for this Bill for some time. We have always wanted a temporary winter ban on evictions to give us some breathing space and we are supporting this legislation. However, I must say that there significant weaknesses with the Bill and with the content of the Minister of State's speech in terms of how the Government intends to use the breathing space. I will deal with them in the remainder of my time.

On the overcrowding provisions of this Bill, a big mistake has been made. The Minister of State is absolutely right that a very small number of notices to quit are made under those provisions. However, the majority of the people who receive those notices to quit are large families. They are Travellers, Roma people or families from certain African countries who, for completely legitimate cultural reasons, have more children.

When they become homeless, and the Minister knows the figures, they spend three or four years in emergency accommodation. In fact, the Minister in 2020 introduced a special provision for local authorities to be able to buy large vacant homes on the private market to try to get those families out of emergency accommodation and yet he is now giving an opportunity to landlords to evict such families. That will have devastating consequences. I plead with him not to do this. There is no need for it and that measure should be removed from the Bill.

The Minister is also creating a loophole because some unscrupulous landlords who are now unable to issue a notice to quit, for example on the grounds of sale or use by a family member, could use this measure because for several years, they have had a family in their unit that is larger than is provided for in the outdated 1966 overcrowding legislation, and they can use this provision as grounds for eviction. Not only is the Minister jeopardising the well-being of very vulnerable larger families, particularly Travellers, Roma and some African families, but he is also creating a loophole for a small number of unscrupulous landlords to exploit. Even if the Minister listens to nothing else we say, I urge him to remove that provision between now and tomorrow.

It is disappointing that there is no additional provision for those people whose due date falls before the commencement of the Act. I know the same level of provision cannot be provided because of the way the legislation is designed, but the Minister could have done something in terms of extra discretion for the Residential Tenancies Board when deciding on those cases where people are forced to overhold because they have no access to emergency accommodation or alternative permanent housing to give them more time. The issue of the commencement date of the Bill is key. We need the Minister to be clear about when it will commence so people know when they are getting protection.

Let us also not forget that council tenants get no protection in this legislation because, of course, they are not tenants as registered under the Residential Tenancies Act. Travellers on either official or unofficial halting sites get no protection. The Minister will remember that when the most recent ban on evictions was introduced, a circular was issued to the local authorities to urge them to accept the spirit of this legislation in their practices. I urge him to do the same again. I am concerned there was no reference to that in the Minister's opening speech.

Of course, as the Minister said, and he is right, a ban on evictions, and especially a temporary ban, is not a solution even though it gives tenants breathing space. I must say that the Minister's speech made me even more concerned than I already was at the fact that the Government has no comprehensive emergency plan to take advantage of these five months to ensure we are not in the same place come April of next year. In fact, from what I heard in the Minister's speech, all that is being considered in respect of additional accommodation is 654 emergency beds in Dublin. While they would be welcome, that is not enough. I have outlined over and over again what needs to be done. We need a circular to be sent to the local authorities telling them with regard to the tenant in situscheme to suspend the scheme of letting and ensure that the local authorities buy, subject to price and the structural condition of the property, irrespective of where the social housing applicant is on the scheme of letting. Without that measure, we will continue to see some councils, such as Kerry County Council, not engaging; councils such as the one in my area only engaging when households have length of time on list; and others responding to the Minister in the spirit in which he has raised it.

We also need upfront funding for local authorities to acquire derelict and vacant properties. Without that, there will no significant movement in that regard. We need the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to do what the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has done, that is, sign a contract for 1,000 high-grade, good-quality, fully fire compliant modular homes to be put in place in the next five months. That is achievable and can be done with the right political will. We need the Minister to use emergency planning powers to get those units on site. We need to cut the bureaucracy imposed on local authorities and approved housing bodies. That is among the principal reasons, along with the pandemic and Brexit, they are behind on their targets.

As the Minister knows, we are supporting the Bill. I urge him to act in the spirit of the legislation in respect of the issues around overcrowding and the circular to local authorities on council tenants and Travellers. I call on him to extend those protections and do much more to ensure that come 1 April next year, we are not in exactly the same position because the Government has again missed its social housing targets.

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