Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

At the weekend, when asked to explain the spiralling homelessness figures, the Taoiseach blamed vulnerable migrants. He said homeless numbers are now heavily impacted by people seeking international protection. This, as the Minister knows, is not true. The biggest correlating factor in the context of rising homelessness in Ireland is not rising migration, it is Fine Gael in government. Every year for more than a decade, homelessness figures have increased. Nearly 14,500 people are now homeless, including almost 4,500 children. This is, of course, an indictment not of vulnerable migrants but of this Government and previous Governments.

People at home will be interested to know that people seeking international protection are not counted in the monthly homeless figures. They are not entitled to stay in emergency accommodation. Under this Government, they are not even guaranteed a bed or tent. In fact, this Government's treatment of international protection applicants is so appalling that the High Court has found it unlawful. However, that has not stopped the Taoiseach from trying to shift the blame from Government onto migrants. Saying that migrants are the cause of rising homelessness is a textbook dog-whistle. It validates and normalises the dangerous far-right narrative that migrants are the cause of the problems people are facing.

Yesterday, Mercy Law Resource Centre, which has expertise in housing law, issued a lengthy demolition of the Taoiseach's comments. It stated that the causes of homelessness are multifaceted and directly relate to decisions made by central and local government over many years. Does it concern the Minister that the Taoiseach's comments have had to be fact checked and dismantled by legal experts? Does it concern him that in the current climate of increased racism, arson, assault, threats and intimidation of migrants, the Taoiseach is seeking to blame them for the homelessness crisis?

Last week, the Minister gave an interview to The Sunday Times in which he lambasted his coalition partners for putting politics over policies. Is this not a clear example of that cynical style of politics? Facing a barrage of criticism, the Taoiseach's office released homeless figures for Dublin in July to try to back up his remarks. These do not tell the full story. The national figures for the second quarter of this year tell us that the biggest cause of homelessness is relationship breakdown, the second is receiving a termination notice in the private rental sector, the third is listed as "other" and the fourth is leaving direct provision, comprising a small fraction of the overall figures.

As Minister for integration, Deputy O'Gorman has not yet commented on this. Is he concerned about the impact of this kind of dog-whistling on migrants, many of whom are already living in fear? Would he like to use this opportunity to confirm that the Taoiseach's comments were shameful scapegoating of a vulnerable minority and were wrong?

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