Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, to the House. I would also like to be associated with the expressions of sympathy to the family and friends of the late Jonathan Corrie.

While the time allocated to the debate is welcome, it is tragic that it has taken the death of a citizen on our doorstep for it to be put on the agenda of both Houses this week. It is clear that the late Jonathan Corrie, like many others, has been failed by the State in myriad ways. As previous speakers said, it was not just in terms of housing but the holistic measures needed by people who become homeless. Respected campaigners such as Fr. Peter McVerry, the Simon Community and Focus Ireland have repeatedly called for the provision of emergency accommodation to deal with the current homelessness crisis, yet the gravity of the issue has largely been ignored and there has been a refusal, for example, to introduce rent controls, to protect tenants or to take serious measures to tackle the housing issue before homelessness takes root. I very much agree with Senator van Turnhout who stated it is a housing crisis, not a homelessness crisis.
A state that cannot provide shelter and housing for its own people is by any measure a failed state. At least 2,500 adults and 800 children are in emergency accommodation currently nationally. The vast majority of them are in Dublin with the remainder primarily to be found in large urban centres such as Cork and Limerick. The reasons for people availing of emergency accommodation are not complicated. They are victims of the housing crisis and the economic collapse, which is still real for many people. As many speakers said, there are a number of issues to which a holistic response is needed across Departments and agencies. People need immediate shelter and care but they also need a longer term plan, including a home to move into and protection from rent hikes and repossessions.
Efforts have been made to address this but the housing budget, for example, this year was €1 billion less than in 2008. Any increase in that is welcome but the additional €36 million a year that has been allocated will not solve the crisis. Efforts have also been made to massage the housing needs statistics by designating HAP recipients as appropriately housed. There are 74,000 people on rent supplement, almost all of whom are on housing waiting lists. HAP would remove them from the lists but not house them adequately.
Private rented accommodation rates are unsustainable and many rent supplement households have lost their homes in recent times. The Government plans to continue to spend more than €500 million on private rent subsidies but nothing is being done to house the families concerned. This is a devastating crisis, which requires immediate action to keep people in their homes, to provide accommodation for those who lost theirs and to build homes to overcome the need for emergency accommodation and end long-term homelessness. We cannot continue as we have for the past three years waiting for what Fr. Peter McVerry called "a tsunami of homelessness". The Government has hinted at a greater role for voluntary bodies and while they provide a great service and have an important role to play, they cannot solve the problem and they should not be expected to.
Writing in theIrish Examinertoday, Ruairi McKiernan, a social campaigner and member of the Council of State, referred to the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a winner of the 2013 World Habitat Award and the brainchild of a non-profit organisation, Community Solutions. This campaign is an ambitious, community-led movement, which has led to permanent housing for more than 105,000 chronically homeless Americans in under four years and the campaign seeks to end a reliance on hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation and homeless shelters. Instead, it advocates that the homeless should be given housing and supports without delay. Currently it supports 186 communities to work together to end homelessness in a co-ordinated national effort. Each community signs up free and reports its housing placements each month towards meeting an ambitious, measurable and timebound goal. He mentions in the article that this idea is currently being supported by Ashoka Ireland. Is the Minster of State aware of this ? Has there been any engagement with this group on the issue?
Detailed plans are needed for investment in follow-on housing for those in emergency accommodation with targets and deadlines. There is obviously an urgent need for intervention in the private housing market to ensure empty properties are occupied. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House.