Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Deputy Cullinane. I, too, utterly condemn the shooting of the policeman in Omagh last night. It was truly shocking and unacceptable. Our thoughts are with him and his family and we hope for his recovery. We had all hoped that incidents like this were a thing of the past. Such incidents are a reminder that we cannot take peace for granted.

At the end of next month, the eviction ban will expire unless a decision is taken to extend it. The first thing one does in a crisis is to not make that crisis worse. There is a real fear that this is exactly what is about to happen. We can all see that every week in our constituency offices. Housing, homelessness and the prospect of homelessness constitute the number one issue. In January, nearly 12,000 people were living in emergency accommodation. In Dublin alone, nearly 3,000 households became homeless last year.

Increasingly, people are arriving at our offices in a state of panic. It might be a couple working and paying rent or an individual or family who would qualify for the housing assistance payment if they could get their application processed. The conversation is not terribly different, no matter who is having it, and it is not unusual for people to end up in tears. They have a notice to quit and cannot find alternative accommodation. Even if they could, they cannot afford it. They usually say to us that they never expected that homelessness was something that would happen to people like them. They talk about the stress and the panic. They often talk about how it is impacting their children. The ban on evictions has postponed the inevitable for many but the cliff-edge is getting ever nearer. Like many Deputies, I see people who are desperately trying to deal with the fact that they are homeless. They often feel that their lives are on hold. The stress and desperation are obvious. The loss of hope and independence is very real. It is not unusual to have someone tell us that they feel they are a total failure.

In many ways, we have got to a stage where the outrage has disappeared and homelessness has almost become normalised, but there is nothing normal about it. I accept that there is a balance of rights. When we talk about that balance, however, I am of the view that who are already homeless and those who are facing becoming homeless have to be seen as real people who have been failed and who are damaged. That has to be factored into the balance of rights too. The Tánaiste needs to tell us what exactly the Government is contemplating. Earlier this week, the Taoiseach stated that he is not convinced the eviction ban is working. That is because he sees that the numbers of people who are becoming homeless have increased despite the ban. I thought those comments were instructive. Most people assessing the situation would infer that, without the eviction ban, the floodgates on homelessness would really be opened and that what is a trickle would become a torrent. Does the Tánaiste accept there is a need for an extension of the eviction ban? If he does not accept that, what does he propose to put in place for the additional people who will become homeless? Why was it not planned, because we knew this was a temporary eviction ban?

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