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

It was a desperate week. Due to the horror of the attack and subsequent riot in Dublin on Thursday, undoubtedly the homelessness figures were pushed down the political agenda, but I also want to raise the matter because it was a very sad milestone for our country to see over 13,000 people now recorded as homeless, nearly 4,000 of whom are children. I too ask what the Government is doing about it because there is a sense from the Government of almost a helplessness and a lack of control. Just as policing was out of control on Thursday night, it seems there is no sense that the Government has homelessness under control.

If the Government is not proposing to reintroduce the temporary no-fault eviction ban this winter, what does it propose to do to help those who are now in homelessness, those families in emergency accommodation as we speak, and to help the rough sleepers on the streets of our capital city and other cities around the country? What is the Government going to do to protect those who are renting and now in fear of entering homelessness as they face the prospect of eviction during the winter months ahead? What does the Government propose to do?

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