Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for the swift action he took before Christmas in respect of a debate on homelessness in this House. I promised at that time that I would keep an eye on the homelessness situation, particularly here in Dublin. Today, I received an e-mail from a representative of the Peter McVerry Trust to tell me that the 271 beds supplied by the Minister were not all used initially, but that they are all being used now. Every night of the week, people are being turned away from hostels around the city due to insufficient capacity. We now have an increase in the number of people homeless and on the streets sleeping rough, even though the beds provided by the Minister are all in use and still in place. I thank the Minister for these beds.

We have a serious issue with respect to homelessness, leaving aside those sleeping rough. I ask the Leader to look into this for me. However, quite aside from this, over 40,000 houses were sold on the buy-to-let scheme during the Celtic era. Those houses are now in distressed mortgage situations. Banks, as they are repossessing these houses, are evicting the tenants because they have no commitment to them. Today, Fr. McVerry told me of a single mother with a three-year-old child who last night arrived at his place looking for accommodation. She was going to sleep rough with the child last night. This woman will return tonight. She has been told - by the HSE I believe but I may be wrong and I do not want to say necessarily that it was the HSE - that tonight, in order to receive accommodation, she must report to a Garda station by 8 p.m. so they can call a social worker and for her and the child to be taken into care. This is urgent, so I ask the Leader to look into this straight away and see that this person is provided with accommodation.

I know I am running over time.