Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With the greatest of respect to the Minister, what utter rubbish. When he notified local authorities of their allocations at the end of March, there was a sharp intake of breath, particularly in the large urban local authorities that have significant levels of homelessness. Not only was the capital allocation a substantial cut on what had been spent on acquisitions last year, but when the local authorities sift through the paused and delayed applications from 2024, closed or not closed, they are telling their elected members they have no money left. In Cork city, for example, communication to TDs and councillors has said that when they deal with the overhang for 2024, there is not a cent left for new acquisitions. Dublin city is the same. Fingal is in the same situation, as well as a number of other local authorities. They are telling the Minister and his fellow party members and our party members that they will not have funding for new acquisitions for 2025. He needs to listen to them, engage and reopen the funding. The consequence will be that in Cork city, Dublin city and elsewhere, more people will become homeless and more people will spend more time in emergency accommodation. That is what front-line local authority homeless service managers are telling us and the Government's backbenchers, councillors and Senators. The Minister needs to listen to them and reopen these funding arrangements to ensure that homelessness does not continue to increase.

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