Aubrey McCarthy (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and I congratulate him on his new role. I wish to address an urgent and pressing challenge facing us in Ireland today, which is the housing crisis and the unacceptable level of homelessness. The word "crisis" is often used in the media to address our housing issues, yet the responses we are showing do not resemble or reflect what a crisis it is. What we did when it came to Covid, or when the war in Ukraine broke out, was that we had joined up thinking and they were approached as crises.

In order to solve this crisis we must take decisive and bold action. We need to streamline our housing system. Bureaucratic delays and excessive planning restrictions and slow approval processes are stalling much-needed construction. We must simplify planning laws and fast track developments that focus on social and affordable housing.

Crucially, approved housing bodies need to be approached and made part of the strategy because they have the expertise, funding models and the community focus to deliver long-term housing solutions. The Government must expand the role of AHBs, allowing fast-track access to financial support and reduce the red tape to allow them to build and to build to scale. They should be central to the Government strategy that prioritises permanent, affordable homes over short-term emergency accommodation, as we have seen.

The latest figures show that more than 15,200 people are now living in emergency accommodation and over 4,600 of those are children. They are not numbers, they are individuals, they are lives. I have seen it myself through my involvement with homeless services and through establishing an approved housing body called Tiglin. I have seen how even one person can disrupt the whole planning process for a number of years, and prevent construction for so many. On the other hand, I have seen an individual coming to the Lighthouse Cafe, a rough sleeper, looking for help and getting support with housing, getting educational opportunities and then, last year, buying their own forever-home. I know solutions are there and that they can be achieved.

I am asking the Minister of State to outline the immediate and long-term plans to address this crisis. Specifically, will the Government set up a task force dedicated to overseeing the housing crisis, where all the relevant stakeholders such as Government Departments, local authorities, advocacy groups and housing experts could come together to deliver real, actionable solutions with clear timelines? I also want to know what the solutions are to accelerate the construction of social and affordable housing. Can we expedite the use of vacant and derelict properties to provide immediate relief in high-demand areas? Also, what additional supports are being introduced to prevent families and individuals from falling into homelessness in the first place?

We must ambitious in our approach. The Minister of State knows that. We need to remove the bureaucratic barriers that delay the housing projects, increase investment in modular and rapid build housing, and strengthen protection for renters. The establishment of a housing task force would ensure accountability, but it would also ensure co-ordinated action rather than fragmented efforts.

We must act now. We must act with urgency and ambition. I believe the Minister of State has the political will to do that. I urge him to take bold and decisive action. The people of Ireland deserve nothing less. The people in the queue outside the Lighthouse Cafe in Pearse Street deserve nothing less.