Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

6. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to ensure no more deaths occur among homeless people and rough sleepers; and his plans to re-open a location (details supplied) or similar to ensure there are no more fatalities during the winter of 2017. [52274/17]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister outline his plans to ensure that no more deaths occur among homeless people and rough sleepers? Will he also outline plans to re-open locations similar to Apollo House that could ensure there are no more fatalities in any city throughout the rest of the winter?

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I express my sympathy and condolences to the family of the lady who passed away in Cork yesterday.

On the night of 7 November 2017, a total of 184 individuals were recorded as sleeping rough in Dublin. As I have said previously, no person should have to sleep rough on our streets or be without shelter at any time of the year.

At last September's housing summit, I emphasised the need for all housing authorities to have sufficient capacity in emergency accommodation and to have appropriate facilities in place for every person sleeping rough, on any night of the week. I also instructed the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, at that time, to set about ensuring the delivery of 200 additional permanent emergency beds by Christmas, in a range of new facilities and locations across the city. A total of 50 of the 200 permanent beds are now in place, and the remaining 150 emergency beds will be brought into use over the coming days, with all being in place by mid-December.

The people who use these facilities will have access to a range of health and welfare supports, which they would not have on the streets. Facilities like this will provide the individuals involved with some stability so that housing authorities and the HSE can work with them to create a pathway to exit homelessness into independent living.

As the weather becomes colder, my Department has also been working with local authorities to ensure that their cold weather initiatives are in place.  These arrangements ensure that additional temporary beds can be brought into use across a range of existing services and facilities for singles and couples who need them during periods of cold weather.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is a weather warning for snow throughout the country today. This morning, I walked in Le Fanu Park in Ballyfermot, as I always do, and the Brent geese were back. There were not enough of them, which is probably a sign of climate change, something we will discuss later, but clearly the cold snap is on the way. The woman to whose family the Minister has given his condolences, and I offer the same, as Members throughout the House really feel for these people who die on the streets, is the third to die in the past eight days and the eighth to die on our streets since August. I do not know how the Minister feels about this, but I feel ashamed of this country to have that knowledge.

On Monday in my clinic, three middle-aged men, not together and not all at once but separately, visited me. All of them are working and each of them is about to be made homeless. They do not have a problem with drugs or drink, they are not chaotic and they did not make bad choices, but they are about to be made homeless for different reasons. One of them is being divorced and cannot afford to move into an apartment or flat at the current rate of rent available in the city, another is being put out of his home because the banks have repossessed it, and another is being made homeless because the landlord is selling the property he is renting. There are myriad reasons homelessness is on the increase and the Government is failing to deal with it. It is failing to deal with the long-term consequences and it is utterly failing to deal with the short-term hardship. Not all homeless people are chaotic or make bad choices. People are being made homeless because of housing policies.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We have a crisis when it comes to homelessness and the Taoiseach has spoken about this on a number of occasions. Every time a person dies while rough sleeping I am notified. I am one of the first people to be notified about the circumstances of the death. It is a very difficult phone call to take, I can assure the Deputy of that. This is why I have made a commitment, and we are following through on that commitment, to make sure there will be a bed in place for any person sleeping rough. By the middle of December 200 new emergency beds will be in place so no one will be forced to sleep rough on the streets.

These are not just temporary beds for Christmas. They are permanent emergency beds being put into our stock of emergency beds. On nights when we have difficulties with the weather or other reasons, such as Storm Ophelia, we put in place emergency beds. There are 50 to 60 of these available on any given night. A couple of weeks ago, we launched the cold weather initiative because we were entering the winter season. This has been in effect on a number of nights over recent weeks, and it remains in effect because of the cold snap that is coming and the prediction of snow. In the cold weather initiative, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive works with the voluntary sector and rough sleeper units to try to get people into secure accommodation for the night. We are working on these facilities and opening them up. They are very good facilities with single and double bedrooms and all of the wraparound supports that can be there, and we want to get people from rough sleeping into sheltered accommodation and then get them into more permanent solutions.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There was a recent attempt by the Government, and particularly the Taoiseach, to try to normalise this, or politically normalise it, and say it happens everywhere so it is not a big deal. It is a big deal, and it is an even bigger deal when we have organisations such as the Peter McVerry Trust and Inner City Helping Homeless and political parties urging the Government to declare a housing emergency. The Government declared an emergency to cut public sector pay and conditions but it will not declare a housing emergency. If it did, it would allow it to CPO big vacant buildings such as Apollo House and the hotel on the quays, and open the facilities needed when they are needed and shut them when they are not needed. It would also allow the Government to borrow off-balance-sheet to build the social housing needed. There is a complete refusal to recognise this is an emergency. It is an emergency that is the creation of economic policies and policies to do with developers and vulture funds in this country.

I ask the Minister not to tell me he is throwing everything at the HAP because it does not work. Ask Celina Hogan, who was on "Today with Sean O'Rourke" yesterday. She is from Ballyfermot and has been living in a hotel. Every day she tries to get a landlord to take her and her two children through the HAP. The Government will give her up to €1,800 or €1,900 month for a HAP rental but landlords do not want to do the HAP and it is not happening. This is why homelessness is on the increase and it is not being dealt with.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Peter McVerry Trust is an excellent organisation and is one of our partner organisations, which we fund to provide services for people who are homeless. Among the new facilities we were to open before the middle of December is one in Cabra, which is run by the trust and is already open. It is a very fine facility that is going to help a number of people into sustainable long-term accommodation. Inner City Helping Homeless is also doing good work. I have been out with its teams to see exactly what it is doing. It is hoping to be part of a co-ordinated effort under the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and we will try to progress that work because the group has positive motivation.

We are using compulsory orders very extensively in counties such as Louth and at the housing summit in January CPO powers will be a particular focus. We are not relying on putting everything on HAP and the numbers do not bear that claim out. We are building social housing through local authorities and housing bodies and we are acquiring more homes for the social housing stock, as well as long-term leasing homes. Responsibility for social housing was outsourced by previous Governments and we are taking responsibility back in a very rapid way under Rebuilding Ireland. We are also looking beyond 2021 to see if we can make it a permanent measure.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister answer the question? Does he consider that we have a housing emergency?