Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We once again have record homelessness figures. Nearly 3,500 children live with that trauma. I ask the Taoiseach, as his first move in dealing with child poverty, which requires dealing with poverty itself, to commit to extending the ban on evictions, which is due to run out in a short number of weeks. As a confidence-building gesture around this commitment to deal with child poverty, I ask that the damage that was done post crash, in Fine Gael's years in government, to the community sector, community development and the very supports that families, children and young people, in particular, rely on across communities, but especially in the most disadvantaged communities, be undone. We need investment and resourcing in our young people and children. That needs to happen through family supports and public services. Hot school meals and so on have been mentioned. Crucially and critically, if the Government is serious about this, it has to be done in the form of robust, resourced community development. Sadly, the Taoiseach's party in government has a record of destruction of that very infrastructure. I hope he will turn the tide on that, change direction, and invest, invest and invest. It is the smartest money the State will ever spend.

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