Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

On Monday, a young woman with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, both of whom are homeless, came into me and said they had nowhere to go. I got into the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and in fairness, it responded quickly and they got a placement. Then I got a text from the young woman saying the place was not the best and was absolutely manky. It stated the cooker was in reach of the baby and she was told yesterday that a little boy had already burned himself on it. It stated there is nowhere to do her washing, which means she will have to come out to Dún Laoghaire from town most days to get clothes washed. The text stated there are bugs all over the ground and that when she goes out, she has no key to lock the room and all her belongings are in there. The text asked if there was anything I could do to help her. That is not the first report I have heard. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has raised this issue many times. It is just not acceptable to put mothers and children in those sorts of conditions. Something needs to be done about it urgently. I point to the fact that many people are sent to hotels and hostels. I cannot understand how Jurys Inn in Dublin 4, with hundreds of rooms, has been sitting empty for the last number of years and is not being used for this sort of situation.

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