Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise with the Taoiseach one of the most immediate and pressing issues that has developed in the past six months, that is, on top of the already critical homelessness problem, the new phenomenon of young families finding themselves homeless owing to a number of factors. A family of two adults and two children who have been in touch with us are living in Bewleys Hotel since November because they could not afford to pay the rent increases demanded by their landlord. They are on the housing waiting list of South Dublin County Council, but they will not get a house for the next seven years. They have been advised by the county council to look outside Dublin for something that is affordable. Calls from constituents are more frequent following the introduction of the rent assessment scheme as people are finding that their landlord is coming back to sell the home. They have been advised to hold on to the leases because they have nowhere else to go in Dublin because of rent increases. In the past three months in the Dublin 8 area alone rents have increased by almost 10%. To rent a house in Drimnagh, Dublin 12, it costs about €1,200 a month.

Last week or the week before young homeless men were found sleeping in bins, one of whom was almost killed. A young homeless lad has contacted us twice in the past three weeks. He was asked to telephone the emergency services at 2 p.m. only to be told the available accommodation was full. He was asked to telephone again at 10 p.m. when again the accommodation was full. He was given a sleeping bag, as he had to sleep on the street. That is what is happening. More families are on the streets than ever before. Focus Ireland has stated the number of families who are becoming homeless each month has increased from eight to 16, while some five children find themselves homeless each week. Is the Taoiseach aware of this trend? Some of his backbenchers from County Kildare have raised the issue in parliamentary questions. What is the Government doing to remedy the problem? The real issue is that in 2008 €1.4 billion was allocated for housing. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 the amount was reduced to €300 million, a decrease of 80% in the allocation for social housing and in expenditure on housing nationally. The dependence of previous Governments on private developers to build social housing and on private landlords to provide social housing is coming home to roost. What is being done about this? There is a need for an immediate response by way of organising an emergency conference to deal with the issue. Given that some 90,000 families need homes, why is this need not being addressed?

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