Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In an emergency we need emergency measures. I do not think anybody is disputing that we are in a deep crisis with housing. The State must do everything in its power to stop people going into homelessness. As we have stated many times, more than 10,000 people are in this situation. The housing crisis is now in its second decade. Fine Gael has been in power 12 years today. It is no coincidence that it has been part of the political landscape of the ongoing crisis.

Lifting the eviction ban, whether in April or June, will start a process that will see thousands of people go into emergency accommodation. I will tell the Minister of State how bad the situation is with the local authorities at present. They are saying they do not have emergency accommodation for people becoming homeless. We could have a situation where hundreds and possibly thousands of families will have nowhere to go to shelter other than Garda stations. This is unacceptable.

We have seen over recent decades that the situation is only getting worse. It comes down to ideology. I am sick of saying this. Nobody should find themselves in homelessness but this situation has continued unabated for the past number of decades. Relying on the free market and the neoliberal model of housing people with private developers has completely failed. There has to be a radical approach. I do not believe that Fine Gael is the political entity to deal with this crisis. It has had 12 years in power and it continues to exacerbate the crisis. There needs to be a change of government and a completely radical approach to housing our citizens.

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