Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is ábhar an-dáiríre é seo. Caithfimid admháil go bhfuil cruachás tithíochta ann, go háirithe le praghsanna cíosa ag ardú agus ag ardú, ach chomh maith leis sin níl an soláthar ann d’aon duine atá ag iarraidh cíos a íoc. Níl an soláthar ann de thithe sóisialta ná tithe príobháideacha má tá daoine ag iarraidh iad a cheannach nó iad a fháil ar cíos. Caithfimid dul i ngleic leis seo ach caithfimid ar dtús báire déanamh cinnte de go bhfuil éigeandáil fógartha againn. Tá éigeandáil tithíochta ann agus níl an Rialtas seo ag déileáil leis.

I do not agree with the part of the motion before the House which states that the Government has lost control. It never had control. That is the problem. For far too long, this Government and other governments have failed to address the issue and have failed to call it a national emergency when that is what it is. We need all hands on deck to address the problem. More than 3,000 children and nearly 12,000 adults are in emergency accommodation. That is a national emergency. As others have said, those numbers do not take into account those who are sofa surfing, living in cars or living on the street.

Obviously an eviction ban is not a long-term solution and nobody is saying it is. The Government has already had enough time to address the issues and has failed miserably to do so. We are asking for the eviction ban to be extended to the end of the year. We are calling on the Government to start to address the issues so that no more families end up in homeless accommodation. My area has quite a number of homeless accommodation, homeless hubs and family hubs. That is not a long-term solution. We need homes, apartments and flats. We do not need the kinds of properties that some landlords are advertising online at the moment. Some landlords are looking for mad money for uninhabitable and disgraceful properties. It is extortion. The State needs to get away from subsidising private landlords and must move away from HAP and all of that in the long term. In the immediate term, we must do it but we are giving the Government the time to address the issue in a national emergency.

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