Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)

Tomorrow will mark another dark day when the latest homeless figures are published. The figure will be over 15,000. This is the population of a town the size of Tullamore. There were 4,775 children homeless in the most recent figures, each an individual tragedy. "The impact of homelessness and unstable living conditions on children is catastrophic" were the words of the Ombudsman for Children on Tuesday at the housing committee. Let us go back just five years to May 2020 and there were 2,787 children homeless. In five years, there has been a 60% increase in child homelessness. The long-lasting effects of such trauma and displacement put these children at increased risk of poverty, social exclusion and adult homelessness long after they have moved out of homeless services. If the Government wants confirmation of the total failure of its housing policies, that statistic sums it up. The Tánaiste admitted yesterday homelessness is too high in Ireland and we have to work every day to do better and more. The ombudsman called for bold brave measures to address the crisis. There is a need for a specific child and family homelessness strategy built on three pillars: prevention; supports in homelessness, and delivery of social and affordable housing. On all measures, the Government is failing.

There is no point telling a homeless child we are building more social homes than at any point since the 1970s. This Government and the previous one had “one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing, yet one of the poorest outcomes”. These are the words of the Housing Commission and not mine. There is a level of inertia in the delivery of public housing that is impossible to understand. Councillors and local authorities across the country will tell us of the dead hand of the Custom House restricting their ability to get on with it. The private sector will not solve this crisis; only the State can. We know that the tenant in situ scheme has been gutted. We know the Minister has stalled 500 homes by pausing public-private partnerships, PPPs. We know that the Government has hiked rents in the private rental sector. There is an €8 billion surplus, but we cannot keep families in their homes. These are things within the Government's control.

I wrote to the Minister for housing with policy measures to address homelessness in March, but I still have not received a response. The programme for Government has no mention of homelessness prevention. There are huge variations in how individual councils treat homeless children. Labour proposed the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill eight years ago. This was supported by Focus Ireland and has passed pre-legislative scrutiny. The previous Minister considered including it in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 last year, but failed to act. The Ombudsman for Children called for the same measure in its 2019 report No Place Like Home. Will the Government now act? How many children must suffer the trauma of homelessness before we see real emergency measures? Will the Government heed the words of the Ombudsman for Children with bold and brave action and a dedicated strategy? For nearly 5,000 children, it is already too late. The Tánaiste wants to do better and more. Will he at least put a plan in place?

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