Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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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.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank Senator McCarthy for raising this important issue. If anyone understands this issue it is him, given his work with Tiglin and dealing first-hand with people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. I commend him on his work in that regard.

Supporting individuals and families facing homelessness is a key Government priority, I can assure Senators of that. Increasing the availability of emergency accommodation and permanent accommodation is a huge priority. The December 2024 homeless report shows there were 14,864 people in emergency accommodation. That figure is far too high and I am always acutely conscious that there is a person and family behind each figure. As a Government, we are committed to preventing as many people as possible entering emergency accommodation as possible and speeding up the exit for those who do avail of services.

In 2024 there was a 30% increase in the numbers of adults supported to exit, and prevented from entering, homeless accommodation. In fact, local authorities achieved nearly 9,000 preventions and exits using measures such as the increased social housing delivery to increase allocations to homeless households and the tenant in situ scheme to prevent new entries to homelessness. Of course, we need to do more as a Government.

Housing for All is our housing plan which contains a suite of actions that have increased, and continue to increase, the provision of housing through accelerating supply, and increasing the affordability of homes for our citizens. Increasing supply of all types of housing, be it social, affordable or private housing, remains the ultimate solution to addressing the homelessness challenge in the longer term.

Looking after the most vulnerable in our society remains a top priority for this Government. We will continue to support vulnerable households while we increase the levels of new housing stock required.

The Department is working closely with local authorities and their NGO service delivery partners to support households to emergency accommodation to tenancies in local authorities, approved housing bodies, or in the private rental market supported by the housing assistance payment.

The Government is committed to a housing-led approach as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. The programme for Government has pledged the largest social housing programme in the history of the State, building on average 12,000 new social homes per annum. The programme for Government 2025 includes distinct actions targeted at reducing and preventing homelessness. These include measures to engage and support rough sleepers with the continued expansion of the Housing First programme, a cross-departmental approach to homelessness prevention, the leasing of one-bedroom units to address the immediate needs of single households, a focus on social housing allocations to families who are in long-term homeless accommodation, the continuation of the social housing tenant in situ programme to prevent homelessness and the reform the Housing Act 1988.

The programme for Government 2025 also commits to fully implementing the national youth homelessness strategy. The strategy, which is in its final year, sets out 27 distinct actions to help young adults who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. Progress on implementing the actions within the strategy continues to be made, most notably with the establishment of a housing-led intervention Supported Housing for Youth, which is currently being piloted in the Dublin area.The programme for Government commits to ensure a holistic, cross-departmental approach to homelessness prevention. I assure the Senator that the Minister, Deputy Browne, and I will continue to work with all stakeholders in this area to ensure we provide support for those who need it in the interim while also ramping up housing supply in the longer term.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am excited to hear about some of the interventions he outlined. In 2016, before I was a Member of the House, I spoke to the Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessness about how, by coming together with a task force, we can make an absolute difference. The figure then was 6,200 people in emergency accommodation. The then Minister said that we hoped to eradicate homelessness by 2020. Unfortunately, the number has nearly tripled since then. I know the Government has taken significant steps through the Housing for All initiatives but the reality is clear, as the Minister of State outlined, that demand continues to outstrip supply. Rents remain unaffordable for many. Even people who go for cost rental or affordable housing do not have enough and do not qualify. Home ownership feels like an impossible dream for many and it seems we are missing out on a generation of home owners. If we are serious about solving the housing crisis, we must be prepared to take the stronger, more urgent measures the Minister of State outlined.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Homelessness is a complex matter, as the Senator knows. A whole-of-government approach is required. That is the approach of the Government and we will continue in that vein. It is important to say that €303 million has been allocated to homeless services for 2025. An additional €25 million in capital funding for the delivery of high-quality transitional emergency accommodation for individuals experiencing homelessness has also been allocated. This will be kept under review in the context of the national development plan. The likes of the programmes around Housing First have worked exceptionally well. I have seen them work exceptionally well in my county of Waterford. I know they are successful but we also need to continue to support more exits from homelessness through the increased ramp-up in social housing delivery and the likes of the tenant in situ programme to prevent homelessness. It is only when one delivers more social housing than there are people entering homelessness that the numbers will reverse. I am committed to working with the Senators and others in the House to ensure that happens.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins. We will see him again. He is no stranger to this House.