Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)

As the Minister knows, Simon Communities today released its quarterly report, Locked Out of the Market, on the experience of people on low incomes and those relying on HAP in accessing the housing market. We did not have to see this report to know that in Limerick city, where I live, no properties are available to rent under the HAP scheme. The report found that 12 of the 16 areas analysed had no properties to rent within either the standard or discretionary limits. That highlights an issue I raised in the Dáil last week. Emergency accommodation in Limerick is full and has been full for a number of months. Between 40 to 70 people are being turned away every single night because there is nowhere to go. They are the most vulnerable of our people and are sleeping on the streets.

I walked into this Dáil in 2016 and raised the issue of voids with the then housing Minister, as I have with every single housing Minister since. In 2016, there were 250 vacant properties across Limerick city. These are council-owned properties. Some of them need a lot of repairs but some do not. Today, eight years later, 250 housing units owned by Limerick City and County Council are vacant. There has been no progress whatsoever. While you fix them, you know some are coming back on stream. There is no planning and too much red tape. People have to go through it. I was in Moyross yesterday. One house there is perfect but I was told it has been boarded up for three years. Another house in Garryowen, where I was on Saturday, has been boarded up for four years, while another in John Carew Park where I was on Friday, again, is boarded up.

We have asked the Minister many times to change the regulations and red tape to allow us deal with voids. It is not just that houses are vacant. These houses are next to people's homes and cause antisocial behaviour, including the dumping of rubbish. For some reason, the Government does not release the funds to local authorities. It does not give them the opportunity, there is too much red tape, and they have to apply for each one in a bundle of three or four houses or whatever. It simply does not work.

We are facing into, and are in, the midst of, winter. As I said, up to 70 people in Limerick city will go to temporary emergency accommodation - I am hearing a figure of 70 today - and they will have nowhere to go. They will be turned away and will be on the streets of Limerick. That is on the Minister's watch. It is to be hoped, when people have the opportunity to go to the polls next month, they will reflect on that.

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