Richard Boyd Barrett: Says Government Is 'Guilty of Child Abuse'
Richard Boyd Barrett spoke in a parliamentary debate about the Royal College of Physicians report on the welfare and mental health of children living in homelessness, saying the government is 'guilty of child abuse' for failing to house over 4,000 children. He accused private landlords and developers of profiting from the crisis and criticised social housing plans that rely heavily on haps.
Royal College of Physicians report and accusation
The speaker cited the Royal College of Physicians report on children’s welfare and mental health and said its findings could be summed up by saying the government is guilty of child abuse. He argued that the state's failure to put a secure roof over the heads of over 4,000 children has lifelong consequences that rest on successive governments.
Promise to end homelessness and the outcome
He recalled that in 2011 Fine Gael and Labour entered government promising to end homelessness by the end of their term, but said the opposite happened. By the end of that government the worst levels of homelessness and child homelessness in the state's modern history were reached, and he said the situation has continued to worsen under the current government.
Private sector gains and corporate statements
The speaker highlighted corporate beneficiaries, citing a portfolio valued at 921 million and noting a 13% jump in share price and a 13.5% rise in net rental income on the previous year. He quoted Margaret Sweeney, the CEO, saying 'rental demand remains strong and whilst it is beginning to increase, whilst supply is beginning to increase slowly, the supply of residential accommodation remains constrained. Therefore, the prospects for growth in the Irish market remain good.'
Cairn Homes and land-supply criticism
He named Cairn Homes as an example of a developer that controls building land in Dublin and accused it of drip-feeding housing onto the market to keep prices high. He criticised the practice of sharing large annual profit bonuses with directors while the housing crisis deepens.
Concerns about social housing strategy
The speaker warned that more than two-thirds of planned social housing relies on haps with private landlords, and said that even if plans succeed many people would remain prey to private landlords. He said this reliance will allow landlords to continue to profit and periodically evict people into homelessness, perpetuating the hardship detailed by the Royal College of Physicians.
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Minister, the Royal College of Physicians report on the welfare mental health of children living in homelessness could be summed up by saying simply the government is guilty of child abuse. There's no other way to describe it. It's failure to put a secure roof over the homes of over the heads of 4,000 children means the state is guilty. of abuse. And the consequences, the lifelong consequences for many of those children rest firmly on the shoulders of the governments that have precipitated and presided over this crisis. In 2011, when Fine Gael and Labour came into government, the programme for government promised to end homelessness by the end of the term of that government. The opposite happened. By the end of the term, of that government, we had reached the worst level of homelessness and child homelessness in the modern history of the state and that has continued to get worse under this government. But, and it's important to say this, there are some winners out of this and they're very conscious of it. It's portfolio was worth 921 million, just under a billion euro. Its share price had jumped 13%. Its net rental income had jumped 13.5% on the previous year. And Margaret Sweeney, the CEO summed up the situation. She said, rental demand remains strong and whilst it is beginning to increase, whilst supply is beginning to increase slowly, the supply of residential accommodation remains constrained. Therefore, the prospects for growth in the Irish market remain good. And they know it. It is lining their pockets. The worse the crisis is, the more profit they make. And that's true of Cairn Homes, the biggest owner of zone building land in Dublin, who drip feed the housing onto the market to make the prices stay high and then share out each year the profit bonuses to their directors. And this is absolutely shameful, and you say, oh well, to improve the situation. And you say, oh, well, we're improving the situation. But the truth is, it's not a secret that the properties are going to be terrible. the situation but the truth is more than two-thirds of your social housing plans rely on haps which are private landlords so even if your plan succeeds which is doubtful the next result will be the vast majority of people will continue to be prey to the iris reeds of this world will continue to line their pockets and periodically will be evicted into homeless homelessness causing the sort of hardship and suffering uh that the royal college of physicians has pointed out is it is shameful deputy
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