Taoiseach agrees that homeless problem is extremely serious

Taoiseach Enda Kenny agreed the homeless problem was serious. "It is not one that grew up overnight and it has been around for quite a number of years."

He said it was not a situation that one wanted to see, where families, for whatever reason, found themselves having to sleep in cars or having to be boarded in hotels in emergency situations.

In the Celtic Tiger years, 80,000 houses were being built, when 10,000 or 12,000 were required, he added. "We now need 25,000 houses a year or more, and we are building between 6,000 and 10,000."

This year, said Mr Kenny, Minister of State for Housing Jan O’Sullivan intended maximising housing for homeless households. “For the first time in quite a number of years, there is a return to direct building of social housing by local authorities.”

Crisis point
The Taoiseach was replying to Independent TD Catherine Murphy, who said she was horrified by what she was seeing.

"I have been dealing with housing issues as a public representative for nearly 25 years and I have never seen anything like what I am seeing now," said Ms Murphy. "This morning the list of homeless families I am dealing with has gone from 12 to 14."

She said 12 of the families had children and included two mothers who were in late-stage pregnancy. “The irony is that these mothers would not be allowed out to get into a car unless there was a car seat, but nobody is asking them if they have a home to go to. In many cases, they are required to rely on the charity of family and friends.”

She said all of the families were stressed and frightened.

Mr Kenny said that in the past two years, some 1,500 people in Dublin had moved from the homeless sector to independent living, which was significant but not enough. In February, the Government had approved the establishment of a homelessness policy unit, which was tasked with implementing the oversight group’s first report.

“That will include the preparation and the publication of a structured, practical plan to make the transition from shelter-led emergency accommodation to a sustainable-led response to homelessness to achieve the goal of 2016 for putting an end to this.’’