60% increase in child homelessness under FF and FG – Tánaiste has no answers
60% increase in child homelessness under FF and FG - Tánaiste has no answers - The Labour Party
- The level of inertia on the delivery of public housing is impossible to understand
- Dead hand of the Custom House is continuously holding up delivery in our communities
Questioning the Tánaiste during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil today, Labour’s housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD called on Government to act on homelessness prevention measures put forward by Labour.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“Ireland has an €8billion surplus, yet we cannot keep children out of homelessness. It beggars belief. For the almost 5,000 children trapped in homelessness, they are living day to day. The insecurity of their living situation is having a devastating impact on their lives today and will continue to haunt them into their future.
“Go back just five years to May 2020, 2,787 children were then homelessness. In five years, under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, there has been a 60% increase in child homelessness.
“What’s needed is brave and bold action – that’s the words of the Children’s Ombudsman. Far from radical, Labour’s homeless families bill from 2017 has support across all parties, yet neither this Government nor the previous coalition have been bothered to enact it. The bill is supposed by Focus Ireland and has passed pre legislative scrutiny.
“The Tánaiste failed to commit to enacting it in the Dáil today, he failed to provide any hope to those people at risk of entering homelessness and he failed to comprehend the horrific reality of the almost 5,000 children living in emergency accommodation.
“When the now Tánaiste became the then Taoiseach last year, he said he wanted to help create an Ireland that gives every child an equal start in life, and that protects our children’s future. He is failing abysmally.
“In March of this year, I set out four key measures Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil could take to address this crisis in a letter to the Housing Minister, I’ve yet to receive a response. This level of inertia from the Government on the crisis of our times is causing catastrophic damage to the lives of many.”