Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Officially, 10,500 people, including 3,500 children, are homeless in the State. That is a failure as far as I am concerned and I think that is a failure for anyone listening at home. That does not include those who are sofa surfing or living in unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation as well as parents and children stuck in their granny's boxroom. We all have that experience. We have all met them, knocking on doors. We know those families intimately at this stage because they call our office practically every week and ask: "Is there anything you can do for my Johnny or my Mary?"

The figures show that homelessness is out of control. The Government and its predecessor have signally failed to address the housing crisis that has gripped the State for over a decade. Some of my colleagues have said that the Government has lost control of the crisis. Others have made the point that it never really had control. It is getting worse. People say that things are improving, but I do not see it and do not hear it from people who are impacted by the situation.

There was a plan to roll out modular homes as a short-term solution, which we all welcomed. We have been looking for this for a long time but again they are months overdue and we are told they are over budget. Unfortunately, it seems to sum up the Government's track record on the matter and shows its lack of ambition. Sinn Féin is calling for an extension of the ban on evictions until the end of the year, except in cases such as breach of contract by the tenant or where an owner is homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness.

We accept that this is not enough. When the Government introduced the winter ban on evictions, we said it was not enough. The Government needs to use emergency planning and procurement powers, new building technologies and vacant properties to increase the delivery of social and affordable houses in 2023 above the current housing plan targets. We are asking the Minister to be more ambitious. I appeal to him to revise his overall social and affordable housing targets to ensure that at least 20,000 public homes are delivered in 2024. We accept that a ban on evictions is a stalling tactic in trying to address homelessness. However, without massive increases in the supply of housing, it will only stave off the inevitable. The two go hand in hand. We need to be more ambitious. We need to stave off the inevitable. The ban on evictions needs to continue. The Government knows this, and yet it allowed more people become homeless when it failed to introduce an emergency response to this crisis.

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