Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste asked people here about priorities for the budget. The number of people who are homeless or in homeless emergency accommodation now stands at 14,159, of whom 4,316 are children. In 2015, this number stood at 3,600 and most people thought it could not get any worse. One service dealing with homeless people is A Lending Hand and its director Ms Keira Gill. While charities and organisations are doing their best, they do not have enough financial resources. This is evident when thousands of people are now looking for help. The director of Advocacy, Mr. Mike Allen, said that having any person living on our streets was both morally unacceptable and, with more effective policies, entirely avoidable.

Last Saturday, the bodies of two homeless men, Donal Scanlon, 49, and Alex Warnick, 42, were taken from the Grand Canal near Dublin city centre. One floral tribute left along the canal read, "May you rest in peace. Our Government has absolutely failed you. I hope where you have gone is better than this hellhole". In this rich country, with the budget coming up and with billions being talked about in tax and spending packages, I am asking for a priority to be included to solve the homeless crisis and to give children who are being brought up in emergency accommodation a chance in life.

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