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

Focus Ireland's Best Interest of the Child campaign is being launched today, as the Taoiseach knows. Legislation published by the charity places an obligation on local authorities to take the best interests of the child into account when working with families who present as homeless. As the charity has highlighted, despite all the evidence of the harm that homelessness does to children, local authorities operate under laws that were written more than 40 years ago and do not recognise children or their unique needs. The number of children living in emergency housing funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has increased by over 60% since this Government came into office. Many children spend more than two years in unsuitable and inappropriate emergency accommodation. It is also important to recognise that while there are now 3,500 children in emergency accommodation, there are thousands more who are effectively homeless and who are living in overcrowded and inappropriate settings. The Government parties acknowledge and accept the immediate and long-term impact the trauma of homelessness has on children. Earlier, the Taoiseach expressed an interest or impulse to examine legislation in this regard. Can I invite him to go further than that and to commit to acting on these matters to work with us in opposition and to progress this legislative protection for children, as is the norm in other jurisdictions?

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