Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be speaking on this issue. I welcome the Minister to the House for this debate. It is a very sad day for everybody but particularly for the Corrie family. I extend my sympathies to them. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

As the Minister has said, homelessness has many and varied facets. The Government has launched a major initiative to address it. It is tragic that just after the major initiative was launched this very sad death occurred. The 2020 construction initiative was launched last May. A lot of the 72 actions in the plan have come to late for Mr. Corrie but hopefully there will not be another Mr. Corrie on our watch.

Having been a councillor for over 20 years on South Dublin County Council I have dealt with a lot of people who were looking for homes or who were about to lose their homes. In many cases, there was nothing suitable available, particularly for single men. This is an area where prevention is always better than cure. There must be a cross-cutting theme between Departments of Health, and the Environment, Community and Local Government, and the local authorities. Tomorrow's forum, initiated by the Minister, will bring all of the relevant groups together to ensure that there is a cross-cutting theme and to try to prevent and stamp it out before it gets any worse.

As Senator Byrne pointed out, there are people who are presenting as homeless now who would never have presented before because of the increases in rents. However, there is a danger in increasing the rent caps because ruthless landlords might see that as an opportunity. I commend the many voluntary groups working with the homeless, providing them with shelter and food, including the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust, the St. Vincent de Paul and Crosscare. We should be very thankful to them because without their voluntary work we would be in a far worse place. There have been cutbacks in the funding to such voluntary services and that should be looked at. We must ensure that they are able to continue to do their valuable work.

There are many reasons people such as Mr. Corrie become homeless. Not everyone is suited to the type of emergency accommodation that is offered or available and perhaps Mr. Corrie was one of those people. It is a great pity. Different types of accommodation suit different people. We do not have specialist services in this country for people who refuse accommodation, for whatever reason. Perhaps we do not have enough wet hostels. Some people may not want to go into a hostel because they cannot have a drink or if people like to drink, they may down a bottle before they go in. That is bad. We do not have enough special accommodation; nor do we have enough people with the skills and experience to understand the needs of people on the street. The problems cannot be hived off into A, B or C. There is more to homelessness than just providing housing. Services are also needed. There are many reasons people become homeless, including behavioural issues and social phobias which can prevent people from making proper use of existing services. The needs of people with mental health problems, alcohol or drug dependency and so forth are not being met effectively by the homeless, mainstream and voluntary services.

The latter have been put to the pin of their collar to provide services. I should, of course, also mention that victims of domestic violence can become homeless.

A case management approach should be taken in respect of each of the 168 people living rough on the streets of Dublin. Such an approach would ensure that we would know the reason they are homeless and the nature of the problems they are experiencing. A number of key groups are potentially at risk of becoming homeless, including those leaving institutional care - whether custodial or health-related - and young people leaving care. A strategy was drawn up in this regard in 2005 or 2006. While there have been improvements, these have not reached the standard required. I heard a girl interviewed on radio last week who stated that her brother became homeless when he left a care situation. Obviously, he did not avail of follow-up supports. There are some such supports in place but they are not adequate. A system should be put in place under the auspices of the preventive strategy to monitor those who may be at risk of becoming homeless when they leave institutional or other care. This matter must be addressed, particularly in terms of the fact that one arm of the State appears to be causing trouble for another. It would be much better if State agencies and entities worked together.

Those who become homeless suffer poor health and lose contact with family and friends and often have a history of being in institutional care or of being involved in criminal or antisocial activity. Research from the US shows that high-quality child care and early education can provide enriching experiences that promote children's positive and healthy development. I often refer to the importance of child care and I will continue to do so, particularly as children can teach their parents. If families are involved in dealing with matters together, it can lead to situations being dealt with before they really develop. Work can be done with the Department of Health in respect of this issue because Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, comes under its remit. We must try to ensure that children who are living in hostels, who are in care, who are homeless or who are at risk all receive preschool education.

Mothers are often turfed out of hotels or whatever and are obliged to walk the streets with their children. Those children are as entitled to receive preschool education as any of their peers. They should not be obliged to walk the streets. For every €1,000 the State invests in making interventions in respect of children between the ages of two and five, it achieves a dividend of €100,000. I am not just saying this, evidence from the US and elsewhere indicates that it is the case. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in the US requires that homeless children of preschool age have equal access to the same public preschool programmes as children who are not homeless. Under the case management system in the US, the authorities are able to identify homeless people who have children and can make provision for them to attend preschool facilities. Such facilities might not be in the immediate vicinity but they are usually somewhere close by.

There is a need to collect better data regarding the nature and causes of homelessness and to use consistent methodologies in respect of the information gap that exists. There is also a need to improve co-ordination of capital. The Minister outlined the new initiatives that have been introduced. In that regard, €10 million from the local authority capital assistance scheme was allocated to Dublin City Council and last month an additional €4 million was provided. The Minister referred to the length of time it takes to get void social housing units back into use. It is seven months since €35 million was made available for the refurbishment of these voids. I am concerned about this matter because the units in question do not have to be built from scratch, they merely need to be refurbished. I accept that it took some time for the capital to come on stream but only a few of the units in question have come back into use. When the Minister addressed the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht yesterday, he emphasised the need to speed up the process relating to the refurbishment of voids.

I am sure we will revisit this matter because it cannot be dealt with in a single debate. When we do so, I hope the news relating to it will be better than is the case today. There has, however, been an element of good news in that additional money is being allocated.