Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Just over a year ago, when we were discussing similar matters, the homelessness figures were in the region of 11,000. They now stand at 13,179, including 3,911 children. Those figures are conservative. In June, July and August, 208 people presented to Tipperary County Council as homeless. At the beginning of September, 57 adults and 25 children were using the emergency accommodation available to the council.

That is far more than the official figures indicated. The unfortunate fact is that the housing list in County Tipperary now stands at 3,572. Demand is such that too many of the people currently in emergency accommodation will remain there throughout Christmas. Let us acknowledge the sad truth that homelessness is separating families. I am dealing with a man who has been going from couch to couch each night. Of course, this is not a suitable situation for his daughter, who is instead staying with her grandmother. Homelessness has separated a young girl from her father. In addition, rents in County Tipperary are more out of reach than ever. They rose by 10.4% in the past year. The amount of emergency accommodation available has fallen because the Department of children failed to engage locally on the use of Cashel town hostel. That emergency accommodation is now gone. People are in impossible situations, and the capacity to meet demand simply is not there. Only this morning, my office was told that the council’s homeless clinic for today was booked out. We need to introduce a ban on no-fault evictions this winter to ensure similar situations do not arise for more families who may, through no fault of their own, find themselves faced with a notice to quit while rents in County Tipperary continue to rise.

I will finish with these words from a constituent of mine who was recently served with a notice to quit. She is in her 40s and summarised the situation like this:

It is very unlikely that I will be able to purchase my own property and I will struggle to pay current rent prices in Tipperary if I have to move into another rental property, as well as the difficulty of getting landlords to take the HAP as a form of rent payment.

The pressure people are under is terrible; action is needed now. By opposing the Bill, the Government condemns more families to fear being made homeless over Christmas.

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