Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Many years ago, there were perhaps some indications or factors that may have made people more prone to homelessness, be it addiction, familial breakdown or economic background. That is no longer the case, as all of us know. Homelessness is like an illness; it can strike anyone at any time, particularly if they are a renter or renting in this country. If someone came into my clinic or any other Deputy's clinic 18 months or two years ago, we would go through a list if they were on a notice to quit. We would ask whether they were on the housing list, how much time they had or whether they had any medical conditions. All Deputies have done this and asked the questions. At the very bottom of that list, however, the one backstop we had was the tenant in situ scheme where, at the very least, we could begin a process with a tenant in situ purchase. Was it expensive? Yes, but there are two benefits to it. Chief among them was that we would keep a family or individual out of homelessness through the tenant in situ scheme. The second benefit was that the State would acquire a property, which it would then own for public housing.

The fact is that this State, which is awash with money, turned its back on funding that scheme. When people come into my clinic, Deputy Sheehan's clinic or anyone's else's clinic, we do not have that backstop and fail-safe at the end and we know, in the pit of our stomachs, that it is more likely than ever that these families or individuals are going to be sent into the homeless services. However much the tenant in situ scheme cost, it was way more value for money than shovelling money into the pockets of landlords in Gardiner Street in Dublin, where one tenth of all homeless people in the country are. We have talked to the schools and seen reports in the national media on the impact on local schools. Primary school students living in homeless accommodation are trying to get proper food, concentrate in school and get an education while living in unstable, long-term accommodation, if that is not an oxymoron.

That is exactly what is happening. The Government needs to reverse, at a minimum, the lack of funding for the tenant in situ scheme to give some hope in this national emergency it has created.

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