Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I want to praise those working in homeless services in Kerry County Council. Within the council's housing services, they have around 70 beds. Approximately 50 of these full, but they are just about managing because of their efforts to keep some beds in reserve. They are continually trying to source more beds. Much of their efforts are focused on keeping people out of emergency accommodation. They are engaging with clients to see what can be done, as once they are in, they know that it will be difficult to get them back out. Two or three notices to quit are coming in every day. We recently dealt with a man in his 70s who has a notice to quit for February. The landlord is insisting that he leave. Another visually impaired man had a notice to quit for 19 December next. The level of anxiety that he was dealing with was unbelievable. Luckily, however, he has managed to get a place in the past few days.

Crucially, I am informed that fewer affordable and social homes are to be completed in Kerry next year. This will add further pressure to the situation. The latest Housing for All progress report verifies what those in the housing services are saying. Of the units completed as a percentage of estimated requirement, Kerry stood at 20% of the 2023 requirement. Commencements in the year ending May 2023 saw a 1% decrease compared with the same period in 2022. With regard to the 2024 requirements, commencements were only at 25% of the estimated requirement. Only 13% of the required total for 2024 had received planning permission by last May, and, year on year, there was even a reduction of 40 in the number of units for which planning permission was received.

Clearly, the Government's own plan is not working. We need to give families space to breathe and to sort out the lag in the number of units through capital investment in housing. We need to stop these evictions and stop people becoming homeless.

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