Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach will be aware of the appalling situation for Micheline Walsh and her husband facing homelessness in Dublin in their late 70s with nowhere to go after being served with an eviction notice. The local Labour councillor Peter O'Brien is now assisting this family but, unfortunately, they are not the only ones. It is unconscionable to see that 175 people over 65, pensioners, represented in the figure of 12,000 currently homeless. It is also unconscionable to see child homelessness on the rise. The most recent figures show nearly 3,500 of those 12,000 are children living in homelessness - 3,472 children, a 23% increase on the same time last year.

It is likely that these horrific figures will continue to rise as the Government fails to take specific action to target homelessness among older people, children and vulnerable populations. The Government claims to care about homelessness, but where is the evidence. It chose to lift the eviction ban earlier this year at a time when NGOs and charities working in sector stated categorically that it would make the problem worse. The Government chose to favour the pockets of private landlords over the interests of pensioners, children and families facing homelessness.

I ask the Taoiseach to stop for a second and to look at what the Government has done. He needs to stop and think about the 12,000 people, including pensioners and children, who have no homes. He needs to stop and think about the trauma being inflicted on children and young people who have no safe home to go to. He needs to stop and think about the thousands of parents fighting night and day to secure a roof over their children's heads. Where was the support for homeless families and homeless pensioners in the Government's mini-budget?

The Government can begin the journey to ending child homelessness. I am bringing to its attention a constructive proposal that was put forward by Focus Ireland this morning. In 2017, former Labour Deputy Jan O Sullivan introduced the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill, which was widely accepted on a cross-party basis, including by the current Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who expressed strong words of support for the Bill. The aim of the Bill was to address the specific needs of children in homelessness by ensuring local authorities would act in the best interests of the child when determining housing need.

The Bill was a response to a situation where parents and children were being referred to Garda stations with nowhere else to go. It is deeply saddening how little has changed in the six years since former Deputy Jan O'Sullivan put forward the Bill. Today, along with Focus Ireland, I urge the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to step up and make the change to ensure that the best interests of the child are paramount in making housing decisions. Homelessness is something that no person, older or younger, should have to go through. The impact of homelessness on children, however, is uniquely difficult because the early years of a child's life are central to his or her development, physically and emotionally. It is when they take their first steps and when they learn to feel safe and secure. It is a tragedy for them to learn that the Government has turned its back on them. Will the Taoiseach commit to passing our Housing (Homeless Families) Bill so that no child has to endure the horror of homelessness? Will the Taoiseach admit that the Government's housing policy has failed to take sufficient account of the needs of vulnerable pensioners, of older people, and of children and families?

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