Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by saluting Noel Murphy and by thanking him for his support, courtesy and patience. What an incredible 40 years of service. On behalf of the Sinn Féin group, I want to wish him a very long and happy retirement.

Tomorrow is Show Racism the Red Card day. I remind people of that and I encourage everybody to come and support it through their choice of clothing for tomorrow, whether they are going to school, college or work. It is an important day. It is probably more important than ever, given some of the horrendous stuff we see out there on social media and from the far-right gatherings, which target some of the most vulnerable people who are coming to our shores. I wanted to make that point this morning.

I do not know if the Cathaoirleach heard the report on homelessness on "Morning Ireland" this morning. I do not know if he heard the homeless man. He was a man who has an accent like mine and who had just come out of a relationship. He has spent four months sleeping in his car. It was tragic and moving and the situation he, and thousands of others like him, find themselves in is so wrong. This is what he said:

Sleeping in my car was an absolute nightmare because I am suffering with lung cancer. ... I would wake up crying because my clothes would be damp from sleeping in the car. When I got to work, I put my clothes on a radiator to dry them. ... When I finished work, I would drive around looking at the car parks, looking to find a new car park to stay in. ... I just felt embarrassed when somebody would see me sleeping in my car. ... I never felt this could happen to me. ... I am about to die a homeless man because there is not a hope of me getting anywhere.

That is what he said this morning. Then, we heard from the executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, Wayne Stanley, who has worked with the organisation since 2005. He was imploring the Leader's Government not to go ahead with lifting this eviction ban. Indeed, it is crucial to point out that every NGO in the housing sector has called on the Government not to do this. It is unconscionable for this Government to lift the eviction ban given the circumstances that thousands of people find themselves in.

The spokesperson from the Simon Communities was absolutely clear that we will see an immediate and significant increase in homelessness once this ban is lifted. I am at a complete loss as to how any politician could knowingly vote to increase homelessness. However, that is unfortunately what Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party did last week. When we come back from our break at Easter, I am requesting that the first debate we have will be on homelessness, to deal with the horrendous situation that this Government has chosen to put these people in.