George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)

It gives me no great pleasure this morning to stand in this historic Chamber not just as a public representative but as a citizen of this nation deeply troubled by the reality that in our modern democratic republic, children are going to bed hungry, cold and without a place to call home. Let us all let that sink in. In 2025 thousands of children are homeless – 5,000 children - and thousands more live in poverty so deep it robs them of their dignity, potential and hope. These are not distant problems. They are happening in our constituencies, schools, hospitals and streets. They are happening on our watch and on this Government’s watch and of that of the government before it. What are we doing about it? If we are not here to protect the most vulnerable - the child sleeping in a car, the child missing meals, the children who think they do not matter - then what is the purpose of this Chamber? This motion, which sadly the Government is opposing, is not just a policy proposal; it is a moral reckoning. It is a call to conscience and a demand that we stop managing this crisis and start ending it. We have to stop treating homelessness as a housing issue alone. This is a childhood issue and an issue of trauma and justice. A child who grows up without a stable home is more likely to suffer from anxiety, fall behind in school or face lifelong disadvantage. This is not just a personal tragedy, it is a national failure and it is a failure that is happening on our watch and that of the Government.

Poverty is not just about income; it is about exclusion and shame. It is about children who cannot afford to go on school trips, who wear shoes with holes or soles falling off, or who pretend they are not hungry because they know their parents are doing their best. It is about the silent suffering that too often goes unseen. When we see it we have to act. As this motion states, the ESRI research shows that one in five children, over 225,000, live in families below the poverty line when housing costs are accounted for. How can this Government justify spending over €630 million a year to reduce VAT on food and catering hospitality while the number of children living in consistent poverty and homelessness continues to increase? This reduction in VAT will benefit those businesses with the highest of turnovers such as McDonald's, KFC or Burger King and will certainly not be passed on to customers or reflected in better pay and conditions for workers. Nor will it address the underlying issues facing the hospitality sector, as the motion says.

Supporting this motion means building homes - not just units - and communities. It means ensuring that no child goes to school hungry. It means increasing social supports so that families are not forced to choose between rent and food. It means investing in wraparound services, mental health, education and healthcare, all of which lifts children out of crisis and into possibility. It also means listening to the parents who feel forgotten, the teachers who see daily the effects of poverty, and the children themselves who are wise beyond their years because their life has made them grow up too fast. It also means we need courage that we will not allow the famous market forces to solve this because we all know that will never happen. We see it daily. We need the courage to say that charity alone is not enough, and to legislate boldly to fund generously and act decisively.

This is not just about economics; it is also about values. What kind of Ireland do we want? Do we want an Ireland that turns away from suffering or one that meets it head-on with compassion and resolve? We have the resources - God knows we have more resources than we have ever had - and we have the knowledge. What we need is the will. We need problem solvers and not problem finders. Let us be the generation of parliamentarians that ended child homelessness and refused to accept that child poverty is inevitable. Let us be the generation that looked into the eyes of every child and said: “You matter, you are seen, you are loved and you will not be left behind”. I urge every Member of this House to support this motion not out of political obligation but out of human decency. I ask the Government to reflect on its opposition to this motion because every child deserves a warm bed, a full belly and future filled with possibilities.

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