Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)

This man-made housing crisis continues to spiral out of control. We have once again, to the shame of this and previous Governments Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been members of, reached record homeless figures. Over 15,500 people are now officially considered homeless, of whom over 4,600 are children.

Bad as they are, these numbers do not take account of those affected by what is described as hidden homelessness. They are those who have to sleep in their car or coach surf because of their insecure housing situation. An estimate of those affected by hidden homelessness suggests that in 2024 over 30,000 people were in this precarious situation. A great number of these hidden homeless became homeless because they received a notice of termination from a landlord who was selling up the property or wanted it back for his or her own use.

It is clear the country faces a significant housing shortage. Even young professional couples with good incomes are finding it impossible to get on the property ladder. Adding to their difficulties are the investment funds, which have sufficient resources and at times were given tax exemptions and access to grant funding to allow them to buy up large numbers of apartments, houses and new estates. Not only are these vulture funds depleting the housing stock, they are also driving up property prices and rents. The serious lack of social and affordable housing stock is a scandal in a country ranked in the top three or four richest in the world.

The Government is consistent in one thing: failing to reach its own targets. The national planning framework says around 50,000 new homes will be needed each year up to 2040. However, the Government has consistently missed its targets for delivery of social and affordable homes. The tenant in situ scheme has been effectively nullified by its actions and restrictions, having prevented over 2,000 families being made homeless in the past couple of years. The Government should give local authorities the lead in building social and affordable housing. They can replicate the work of housing bodies such as Ó Cualann, which have been building and delivering affordable housing for years. This Government has proven time and again that its policies cannot solve the housing problem. The number of people I see every day in my constituency office who are about to be made homeless is beyond alarming. There will be no respite from this until radical action is taken.

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