Richard Boyd Barrett highlights homelessness and Gaza hunger strikers

Yeah, can I extend a welcome to the British ambassador and happy Christmas to everybody and our guests and so on. I would use the opportunity to pass a message to the British government through the ambassador that something urgently needs to be done about the Palestine action hunger strikers whose lives are now in danger because they protested against a genocide in Gaza and are being treated in an absolutely brutal fashion. I'd also just like to corroborate the call to act on behalf of the Oireachtas TV workers. It's been raised with the government on several occasions here before and it's shameful that they get laid off during the summer and during Christmas when they broadcast the proceedings in these chambers. Christmas should be a happy time and for many it will be a happy and joyful time. But as has been said, for many it is a time of very serious challenge, hardship or indeed sadness if they are one of the 16,766 people who are living in emergency accommodation or threatened with homelessness or in crisis housing situations. And in particular, for the 5,274 children who are in emergency accommodation, 50% of whom are in emergency accommodation for the second Christmas in a row and 25% of whom are in for the third or fourth Christmas in a row. Now I just want to put a human face of the many faces on some of these cases. Saoirse is with her children, our second Christmas in emergency accommodation. Her son is refusing to stay with her mother in the emergency accommodation because it's not a home, it's not a proper place to live. So now mother and son are increasingly separated. She has tried to take her life twice because, as she explained to me, bawling, crying in front of me, she blames herself for her homelessness plight, which of course she is not to blame for. Julianne and her two children, 15 and 10, another person, second Christmas in one bedroom, sharing a bed with her 10-year-old son, her daughter refusing to go to school while she's also trying to hold down a job. Quiva and her three children, nine, four and one, second period of homelessness, her nine-year-old daughter becoming increasingly isolated from her friends because they can't have people over, has asked on her Christmas list for a place called home. I could add in cases I'm dealing with of women who are suffering domestic violence, terrified of their partners but nowhere to go because there's no three-bedroom housing available. So I ask, what are you going to do? 32 percent, one-third of those who are homeless are there because they were evicted from the private rented sector because you lifted the eviction ban. Many, all of the cases I've mentioned could have their situation resolved if there were enough three-bedroom houses because the developers and the government have prioritised one and two bedrooms instead of building family homes or buying them, if necessary, to keep children out of homelessness. So, policy change could actually address the misery and hardship that many people are suffering, particularly children. Thanks very much Deputy Boyd-Boward. Just on the Oireachtas TV unit, we should work together on this but just to be clear it is an issue for the Oireachtas Commission which all political groupings are represented on and it's not an issue of government for, well sorry my apologies but many groupings are and I'm sure your voices no doubt will be heard but that is the forum in which this needs to be resolved. I believe the government may have corresponded previously in relation to this with the Oireachtas Commission. We should engage on this and we're happy to do so. Thank you and you're right to put the human faces because we can lose sight of the human faces during the debate around statistics and to mention the stories of Saoirse and Julianne and Cuiva does make this very real to us and we could all, as constituent CTDs living in a country that is going through a housing emergency name people who we know who are experiencing the discourage, the stain of homelessness and family homelessness and I mean staying in our society in terms of the need to do much more. I would also say in relation to people in domestic violence there was an issue raised in this House not that long ago I think perhaps by Deputy Farrell and Deputy O'Reilly raised it with me in relation to people fleeing domestic violence seeking to move from one local authority area to the other they were right that this was bizarre that you couldn't take your place in the list with you that's now been fixed or is certainly in the process of being fixed by a letter from the Minister to the local authorities that's an example of a constructive measure we can take together and I thank the deputies for that but what I do want people to know is we are taking a number of measures to try and assist people in the here and now your point around the one bedroom, two bedroom, three there's some validity in it I mean it is from my memory a statement of fact that the huge need was in relation to one beds it's also a statement of fact though in terms of family homelessness families require more than one bed and that's why in fairness to Minister Brown he has put in place that ring-fenced fund to allow local authorities to acquire at least in the first instance in the here and now to acquire larger properties and we are seeing and I have figures here where we are beginning to see the benefit of that already in terms of £50 million being allocated to eight individual city and county councils where they have the highest number of homeless families people who have been in emergency accommodation as you say for a period of 24 months or longer in addition there will be a further £100 million allocated to that in 2026 there is some signs that that's having a positive impact in terms of families who were in long-term homelessness actually now being provided with a home by the local authority and I do think they need to as we develop social housing make sure the mix in terms of the number of beds is correct too we have provided the largest ever housing budget in the history of this state for next year the housing plan does include 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports being provided along with the overall figure of 300,000 homes as well when it comes to capital when it comes to trying to remove blockages when it comes to instructing and demanding and working and collaborating all of those things with local authorities in terms of zoning more land and providing more land we're doing that as well and we are providing substantial financial support I would just say the figures that we've invested also in homeless prevention has prevented many, many, many families from entering homelessness as well and we need to continue to do all that we can on this Thank you very much one-third of those who are homeless are there because they've been evicted from the private rented sector quite simply they wouldn't be in emergency accommodation those children wouldn't be suffering this hardship if you hadn't lifted the no-fault eviction ban we've got an emergency we've got the highest level of child homelessness ever if that's not an emergency quite honestly I don't know what is so you should reinstate that ban on the three bedrooms I'm glad there's an acknowledgement I would say we warned you we warned you about this because the demand for social housing was not taking into account people who were on transfer lists and HAP and RAS that's why it understated the extent of family homelessness or the people in danger of it so we need to address that and I would say on the 100 million that's 200 houses in Dublin 200 200 right a fraction of the number of families that are actually homeless and need to get out of homeless accommodation it's not enough and you contrast with the billions that you gave in excess of a billion you gave away on VAT reduction for the hospitality sector 390 million 600 military expenditure R&D tax credit 305 million 681 million the sorry hospitality VAT sector 681 million and the reduction and the reduction in apartments in the budget 390 million in one year big giveaways to developers to big business to military in contrast a fraction of that to deal with family homelessness more needs to be done I find myself conflicted I agree with you on some of the points and some of the other points I think are not a fair reflection I mean we've taken a number of measures to try and protect people in their tenancies when this government albeit in a different version came to office in January I don't think there was many people in the opposition benches who predicted that we were going to extend the rent pressure zones make them permanent and make them nationwide we did that we also brought in a very comprehensive suite of protection we also brought in a very comprehensive suite of protections for tenants and there's a whole new series of measures coming in from 2026 as you know on the VAT 9 on apartments in fairness we debated the financial resolution the financial resolution here I would point out that that measure isn't just benefiting developers though I'm pleased that by the way it is benefiting people building more private apartments because we need more private supply and private investment but it is also benefiting AHBs it will benefit people in your constituency and mine who want to build apartments that will be made available to approved housing bodies that will then actually take people off the housing list so yes we have lots more to do but it's not a question of should we spend money on our national security or should we spend money on housing this is a wealthy country that has an ability and an obligation to do both and to finish on a note of harmony on the three beds and four beds that is a legitimate issue the local authorities recognise it and I wanted to say the government recognises it the release valve for that is the 100 million in 2026 and the 50 million in 2025 your argument that we should do more so that we keep one to review the bigger issue though is as we actually build more to make sure there's a better composition and mix of the number of bedrooms in each home building thanks thank you definitely thank you