Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to highlight how shocked and angered I was during the weekend having read the comments of the chief executive of Dublin City Council, Mr. Owen Keegan, on homelessness. He stated:

The best way to solve homelessness in Dublin would be to provide no beds. When you go out of your way to increase accommodation and improve the standards of that accommodation it's a much more attractive place to be.

He later clarified that his comments were intended as a joke, stating that he was trying to make a point that if we really want to cut numbers, then cut the service. I do not find this funny. It is deeply unfair on the people who are suffering the stress, indignity and hardship of trying to look after their families in the midst of homelessness.

I know a person very close to me who is living in a hub in Crumlin. This beautiful young woman, who is proud that she is doing her best, has two young beautiful girls but is separated from her partner. She has been living in the hub in Crumlin for the past 15 months. She carries the shame of not having her own home and it is 100% not funny. The complete lack of empathy in these comments is unacceptable and it really saddens me that these are the sorts of statements being made by the head of Dublin City Council, which has such a pivotal role to play in fixing this crisis.

It fundamentally misrepresents the problems we are facing. People are not in this situation because it is attractive, they are there because of an acute lack of social and affordable housing. Marginal improvements in homelessness services do not create homelessness. We should be talking about the root cause of homelessness, which is an unwillingness to build social housing. This was something we did for decades and it is frustrating to see officials downplaying the importance of public sector housing provision in light of this ongoing crisis. As far as I can see, no statements have issued from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, in response to these comments.I would appreciate it if the Leader were to ask the Minister to clarify that he does not share the view that providing acceptable and compassionate homelessness services is contributing to the problem.