Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I echo the sentiments of other speakers and extend my sincere condolences to the family of the late Jonathan Corrie. I wonder what he would have said if he was told last week that he would be the instigator of a national debate in both Houses of the Oireachtas, adjacent to where he chose to lay down every night and under the shadow of which he drew his last breath, that his name would be known the length and breadth of Ireland and that he would hit the headlines of every newspaper in this country. He would probably have laughed at the idea. However, that is exactly what has happened.

Homelessness, in particular those who sleep rough, has been the topic of much debate and conversation of late and not just because of the death of Jonathan Corrie. We are all very aware that homelessness has become an escalating problem, particularly in Dublin and other largely populated areas, and this is why the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, has made constructive and very welcome moves to address the growing problem.

Homelessness is not as far away as people may think, as we found out to our detriment, quite literally, this week. It really can happen to anyone. It is very rarely a choice.

Can my colleagues imagine how they could end up homeless, the course their lives might take to find themselves without a roof over their heads? What if one of my colleagues lost a wife, husband or child? What if their business had to close down or they lost their job? What if their rent was increased and they could not afford to stay in their home? What if they suffered from a mental illness or an addiction? Every organisation that deals with homelessness worldwide hears stories like this on a daily basis. Focus Ireland estimates there are up to 5,000 homeless people in Ireland at any one time. By homeless, I do not just mean sleeping rough on the street; it is much wider than that. With rising rents and mortgage arrears there are now also more families at risk of losing their home than ever before.

While it appears that Jonathan Corrie was a troubled man and had many issues to deal with, he also personifies those who are homeless and, in particular, those who are sleeping rough. He is the face, the name, the man, the human being whom many of us see every day of the week as we walk though the streets of Dublin. How many of us in this room would take the time to stop and speak to the Jonathan Corries of this world? How many of us do the practical things as individuals that could help alleviate their problems in the short term, if only in a small way? I do not mean to give them money as sometimes this is only fuelling an addiction. Do we stop to buy them a hot drink, a sandwich or a hot meal? It is in these Houses that we can address the problem in the long term but we can also help out there on the streets. I know that the Minister is doing his best with limited funds to alleviate the housing problem, and to address the problem of homelessness and sleeping rough. For the first time in many years we have a housing strategy. This should have been done years ago, when money was not an obstacle.

We must stop scoring political points and work together as united, elected representatives to help stop the rot and do what we can together to prevent homelessness and sleeping rough. A good example of what could have been done is when the Labour Party representatives on Dublin City Council proposed a 7.5% cut to property tax instead of a 15% cut, in order to channel funding towards homelessness. It was voted down by those who hold the balance of power on the council. The records speak for themselves and I am not even going to name the parties and independents who voted this proposal down because, as I have said, it is not a time for political point-scoring.

For God's sake and for the sake of those on the street who need our help, let us stop talking and do something constructive about it. Let us row in behind the Minister's plans and help the organisations that are in place to help the vulnerable people who cannot help themselves. As a Government, we have only got so much money, and every day one organisation or another is saying that we have to invest money in their particular field, be it the ambulance service, the disability service, agriculture, education, health, housing or the Garda. All of these are very worthwhile causes, but we need to have an honest conversation and admit that there is just not enough money to do everything we want to do all in one go. We cannot do the miracles of the loaves and fishes. Let us, as elected representatives, be honest and prioritise where serious funding can be directed to make realistic differences. I am calling on all parties to get our priorities right and to work together to make a difference. Let us provide single units for the Jonathan Corries of this world.

I commend the work of the Peter McVerry Trust, Focus Ireland, Threshold, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Simon Communities and indeed Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on agreeing to open up premises to help alleviate the ongoing problem of homelessness. I ask the landlords at this emotive time to make the generous gesture of lowering rents and coming halfway to meeting the Government on the caps. The Government must make the move to meet the caps as well.

Let us make a difference, in this case the difference between a night under the sky and a night in a warm bed. I commend the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, on their work to date on tackling the problem, but I must echo the calls for an increase in the rent caps. Where I come from, to rent a house in Killarney is way more expensive than a house in Tralee. There should not just be a blanket cap across the country. I know they are different in Dublin. It should be based on the rents of the area in which we live. We are encouraging tenants to make under-the-counter payments and we are encouraging the black market. Landlords are getting tax-free top-ups under the counter because that is the only way the tenant can secure the accommodation. We need to stamp this out.

Like other Senators, I could speak for the whole night on this but I can see the Acting Chairman is calling time. There will be further debate.