Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

The families of one in five children in Ireland, which means more than 225,000 children, now live below the breadline. Ours is a relatively wealthy country and yet more than 5,000 children are homeless. Those are 5,000 children in emergency accommodation who are doing their homework on the floors of hotel rooms or family hubs. Far too many are living in overcrowded homes with multiple generations all under one roof. The Minister may not be the Minister for Finance yet, but his party has the housing portfolio and he is the TD for Dublin Bay South. Across the communities that the Minister and I represent, multiple generations and branches of family trees are crammed into one tiny space because of the housing crisis and disaster. At the hardest edge of the crisis are those children in housing insecurity, who are facing the awful prospect of eviction. The thought of that resonates with all of us. Families are in despair. Individuals are in despair.

I talked this morning with my Labour Party colleagues, who are hearing daily, as I am, from people who are becoming increasingly desperate because of the lack of housing. Increasingly, our representatives, and I am sure the Government representatives, are finding they can offer those people nothing because there is no safety net for families, or anyone else, facing eviction.

We learned today that the Minister for housing has written to councils about the tenant in situ scheme, which was the safety net that the Government introduced to keep families in their homes when landlords were choosing to sell up. In March this year, new restrictions from the Government all but eliminated the safety net for far too many people. No new acquisitions were sanctioned across Dublin city or in Cork. Under criticism from the Government's own councillors, the Minister, Deputy Browne, has now issued a letter to local authorities. We hear it states that they can now proceed with more acquisitions up to a value of 30% of their original 2025 budget.

However, those commitments are for 2026, so it seems that the Minister is borrowing into next year, kicking the can down the road and doing nothing for families whose applications under the tenant in situ scheme have already been rejected this year because central government, it seems, has turned off the tap. The numbers involved are rising.

As I have said, our representatives are dealing every day with families facing eviction and families whose applications have been turned down. We are hearing about despair, people who see no future for themselves and people who, horrifically, are even expressing suicidal thoughts because of the lack of hope in this housing disaster. Where are they to go? What are we to offer them? What is the Government to offer them? There is so much the Government could do. It has said that putting hard-pressed families at the centre of the budget will be its priority. If so, let us hear from the Minister on whether he will use the budget to restore the tenant in situ scheme to full functionality. Will he ensure local authorities prioritise housing children, as per our Labour Party Bill, which he had supported previously? Third, will he go further and act to end the eviction of children? We could do that. The Minister could do that. He could prevent evictions of children in homelessness beyond the 5,000 that have already occurred.

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