Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In welcoming the Government's housing action plan I highlight the concerns expressed recently by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC. We must bear in mind that the number of children in emergency accommodation increased by 67% in June compared with the same month last year. Hundreds of children are living in emergency accommodation and the State must take measures to make this accommodation as safe as possible. The ISPCC has consistently called for physical and management standards to be introduced for emergency accommodation. Emergency accommodation is provided under a contract agreed between the State and a commercial provider. These contracts should contain physical and management standards which hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation providers should be obliged to meet to ensure the protection of children. The standards required include Garda vetting of hotel staff, access to safe areas to play, access to drinking water and a minimum threshold for physical and management standards. It is simply not good enough that such standards are not yet in place. Some 1,394 children are living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation in Dublin and the inherent risks they face are not being addressed. While the housing action plan addresses house building and finance, it is also essential that structures are put in place to support people who are forced to live in emergency accommodation. The safety of children living in such accommodation is of the utmost importance and all measures must be taken to ensure these children are safe.

I also welcome the renewed conversation on building relationships on the island in the light of the decision by England and Wales to vote for Brexit and the decision of Scotland and the North to vote to remain in the European Union. My contacts in the voluntary and community services in the North are very concerned about the prospect of the North being taken out of the European Union. People living on Rathlin Island, from where my father comes, are talking about having an independent island to get away from it all.