Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following:

"Seanad Éireann:

notes the call of the MakeRoom campaign for an end to homelessness in Ireland by 2010;

acknowledges the significant progress by the Government on homelessness, including:

expenditure of €450 million since 2000 in addressing the issue in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner;

developing a wide range of homeless accommodation and services across the country;

the significant reduction in the numbers of homeless persons in Dublin and nationally;

the publication of the independent review of the Government's homeless strategies and the Government's commitment to act on the review and prepare a revised strategy on homelessness;

further acknowledges the achievements of the Government in:

increasing housing supply as the key response to the broad range of housing needs and demands with one third of Ireland's total housing stock being completed in the past ten years;

providing for the needs of 100,000 households in the last ten years through various social and affordable housing programmes;

bringing forward five-year housing action plans by local authorities to co-ordinate, accelerate and bring greater integration to action on housing at local level;

launching a new housing policy framework — "Building Sustainable Communities" — to provide an integrated approach to guide housing policy and investment over the coming years;

welcomes Towards 2016 commitments to:

eliminate long-term occupancy of emergency homeless accommodation by 2010;

further additional investment, in 2007 to 2009, to enable 27,000 new social housing units to be started or acquired and some 17,000 affordable housing units to be delivered;

update and effectively enforce the minimum standards regulations for the private rented sector, and the recent announcement of an action programme to address the standards issue; and

supports the development by Government of a new national action plan for inclusion, which is being prepared in tandem with and will complement the forthcoming National Development Plan 2007-2013."

I welcome this debate and compliment Senator Ryan on his work with the Simon Community of Ireland which, with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Threshold and Focus Ireland, supports the motion. While the debate is timely, we are discussing the issue on one of the worst days of the year in terms of weather. I agree with Senator Ryan regarding the number of people near this building who are homeless. While there is much emphasis on the homeless situation in Dublin and other major cities, there are difficulties for people in parts of rural Ireland, particularly persons who do not want to move to bigger towns and cities.

The issue of youth homelessness, which has been discussed, arose on "Liveline" several times during the summer in respect of families' serious difficulties, namely, the hell on earth families go through when young people cannot get on with their parents or guardians. Much as on any "Liveline" programme, the different views were interesting. Some people said young people should be put out of their houses or accommodated in some way with the help of social workers and other agencies. I welcome the reduction in the figures relating to homeless children. Last year, the figure was 460, but in 2002, it was 1,405, a reduction of 67%. Senator Ryan accepted this trend. Between 2002 and 2005, the global figures relating to homeless persons have decreased. This is the good news.

In rural Ireland, many single people are not helped. In every local authority, there is a tendency to house families, but the traditional family no longer exists. People in their 40s and 50s who try to get accommodation experience significant difficulties. I applaud the fact that some local authorities will now provide housing for people in that category.

Long before phrases such as "social and affordable housing", Galway County Council tried to reserve at least 10% of its housing estates for elderly people, lone parents or the homeless, which was a good policy. Emigrants were often mentioned in that context. Through social and affordable housing, that figure is currently 20%, but there is a vacuum in terms of the difficulties faced by returning emigrants when trying to get housing. Special regard should be given to them because they have worked hard all of their lives. Perhaps they did not have proper pensions in their workplaces or where they lived, but they deserve consideration.

When schemes are put in place by the voluntary sector, which has done great work, I hope they are built to the highest standard. A voluntary organisation known as the Clúid Housing Association — clúid means shelter — has established many good schemes. It has been concerned about security, particularly for older people, and there is a house for an estate caretaker in each scheme. When CCTV systems are rolled out, I urge that they be made available to those housing schemes.

The important issue of rent was referred to. Higher rent is paid for voluntary housing than for local authority housing. Why is this the case and will it be examined? Regarding the assessment of needs, I welcome the decrease in the numbers on waiting lists, the result of a positive investment in social and affordable housing. I hope the Minister's plans for 2007-09 will be fulfilled. I welcome the MakeRoom campaign's examination of homeless persons centres. It is trying to help people who want to get out of homelessness.

I understand the Minister will examine the limit on the amount of rent. Senator Ryan gave figures concerning how expensive rent is in places such as Dublin and Galway city, which I know has a difficulty in this respect. That the Department of Social and Family Affairs is reviewing the rent supplement and the rent limits to determine the limits that should apply from next January is important. If one speaks with any community welfare officer, he or she will say there is a real difficulty. From January, we will need definite figures, but I am sure some of these issues will be addressed by the budget in December.

When we discuss rent, another issue is that of proper standards. In September, we were told that under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, 123,000 properties were registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board. Some of the funding is used to promote further improvement in private rented accommodation. The regulations must be implemented and they must be enforced properly.

I welcome that there are some improvements, which every Senator would acknowledge, but the work of Focus Ireland, the Simon Community of Ireland, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Threshold is admirable. I hope they continue their good work and that the Government can address the question of homeless persons as quickly as possible.