Seanad debates

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Poverty and Homelessness: Motion

 

10:30 am

Photo of David NorrisDavid Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It would be good if we could reach agreement because it would be good if the entire Seanad could support a motion on behalf of people who are at the cutting edge of poverty, misery and deprivation. I urge those involved, the Whips and others, to get together to see if we can negotiate an arrangement whereby we will not have a vote on this matter.

There really is a homelessness crisis. I have just looked at the figures for those who have accessed homeless services in Dublin in the past two years. In 2014 the figure was 2,306. It has almost doubled to 3,777 this year. That gives real cause for worry - the constant incremental increase. We also know that in 2014 there were 20,000 people on the housing list in the Dublin City Council area. I assume there are considerably more than on it now.

I wish to talk a little about the banks. We have had banks putting people out on the side of the road. It is an increasing phenomenon and the Government appeared to endorse the policy. I remind the banks that they were rescued with money from the purses of the ordinary, small people of this country. It was our money, but now they are turning around and putting people out of their houses. It is disgraceful.

One of the most fundamental rights in any decent democratic society is the right to housing, shelter and a home. We now see NAMA and others selling off mortgage portfolios to vulture funds.These are people who will be utterly callous. They just kick people out on the side of the street. Why was it not found possible to offer those mortgages to their original proprietors at the discount at which they were sold to the vulture funds? That would have kept people in their homes and would have been the decent thing to do. Now we have people in hotels. That might sound very grand - as though it would be nice to be in a hotel. I do not think it is very nice. They are stuck in unsuitable accommodation and are very often told they cannot go in the front door but must go around to the tradesman's entrance at the back. They are second-class citizens. The children are not allowed to play and there are no facilities for them. If one looks at the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin, for example, on the night of 24 April this year there were 102 people counted as sleeping rough. There were certainly more than that. Over the years, the gender breakdown shows that between 84% and 91% of these are men, mostly young men. Behind this is a whole nexus of poverty.

We have seen over the past ten years the biggest transfer of money from the poor to the rich that I have ever experienced in my life. We have a situation involving various definitions of poverty. We have the consistent poverty rates. "Consistent poverty" describes the situation of people whose income is below the poverty threshold and who cannot afford at least two of 11 staple items, which I will come back to in a minute. The at-risk-of-poverty threshold is an income of €10,926 - that is, just €11,000. That is about the level of the contributory old age pension. There are 11 deprivation indicators: two pairs of strong shoes - anybody could see it is real poverty if one is not able to afford a pair of weatherproof shoes - a warm, waterproof overcoat; buying new, not second-hand clothes; eating meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day; having a roast joint or its equivalent once a week; having to go without heating in the last year through lack of money; keeping the home adequately warm; buying presents for family or friends at least once a year; replacing any worn-out furniture; having family or friends for a drink or a meal once a month; and having had a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight for entertainment. These are the qualities that give people a human life. It provides not just for decent clothing, shelter and food but also for some degree of human dignity in terms of provision for entertainment. The percentage of Irish people living in consistent poverty in 2014 was 8%. That has nearly doubled from 4.2% in 2008. The consistent poverty rate for the unemployed is 22.6%, which is up from 9.7%, so it has more than doubled in those four or five years. Children remain the most vulnerable age group, with 11.2% living in consistent poverty. It is particularly marked in single-parent households.

The percentage of people who are at risk of poverty was 14.1% in 2013, which was the seventh lowest in the EU. It is very easy to trick around with these figures and say we are doing pretty well because we are the seventh lowest in the EU. Being at risk of poverty is to live on an income below 60% of the median income. If one looks behind those figures and if one takes away the social welfare payments and various things like that, Ireland's position falls: the actual at-risk rate in this country without social welfare supports would be a staggering 49.8%. In other words, without the support of social welfare, nearly half the people of this country would be at risk of poverty. That is a salutary figure that ought to bring us up short. Consistent poverty rates have increased over the years because of the financial difficulties this country found itself in, and in 2014 it was estimated that just 370,000 people were in this category. This is in a society with a very high cost of living. Prices in the Republic were 22.3% above the European average in 2014, making the State the joint third most expensive place in the EU, and we have these levels of poverty.

In the midst of this, we have 140,000 children in this country at risk of poverty. That puts into context all the bleating about treating all the children of the nation equally. Fergus Finlay, the chief executive of Barnardos, who is well known to this House, has said the child poverty rate is "a national scandal". He has said:

We would expect to have seen the beginnings of a reduction in child poverty rates in 2014 [...] However one in nine children still live in consistent poverty and more than a third of children experience deprivation, while the number of children at risk of poverty has not improved since 2010. This puts paid to the rhetoric that ‘a rising tide will lift all boats’ [...] two children in every classroom are living without access to basic necessities through no fault of their own or their parents. They are going without warm winter clothing, living in substandard housing and even going hungry.

What condition are those children in to absorb the lessons of education?

I pay tribute to the sponsors of this motion. It is a very good motion. I hope agreement can be reached so that Seanad Éireann puts its muscle, its back and its united effort behind those Ministers seeking to address this most urgent problem.

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