Ivana Bacik
Dublin Bay South · Labour Party · Ireland
“Just today I and other local representatives got an email from the owner of two restaurants in Dublin city centre about this issue. The Minister of State’s brief includes not only the circular economy but also small business.”
“The Bill Deputy Sherlock and the Labour Party are proposing is not one we suggest is a silver bullet or a panacea but it offers one small, constructive mechanism to address the dysfunction in waste services.”
“In Dublin Bay South we have superb Tidy Towns organisations that I am proud to work with from Ringsend and Sandymount across to Portobello in my area to Rathgar, Rathmines, Terenure, Donnybrook and Ballsbridge. We see really important work being done by Tidy Towns organisations.”
“The owner says he no longer has space to accommodate additional recycling bins, cannot leave recyclable waste out for collection and cannot leave flattened cardboard outside for collection. Private waste companies must send a vehicle to collect this directly from premises. This is costly, inefficient and unnecessary.”
“I do not mean just in Dublin, though Deputy Sherlock and I are focusing on Dublin and most of the TDs present are Dublin ones, as clearly this has ramifications across the country and the dissatisfaction and the concerns Deputy Sherlock’s constituents and mine are expressing are ones felt across the board.”
“We want to see a move, as Deputy Sherlock has it in the Bill, from competition in the market to competition for the market and this Bill would represent an important positive step on that journey to quality public services provided by the State and to remunicipalisation. Deputy Sherlock has set out the detailed provisions in the Bill.”
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“Finally, I return to the question of the inquiry which we welcome for children with scoliosis and spina bifida as a result of the meeting between the Tánaiste and the Minister for Health with the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I asked earlier for clarification on the publication of the relevant reports. We need a schedule for publication of the Nayagam report. It was commissioned two years ago but we still have not seen it published.”
“The Taoiseach outlined some of what the Government has been doing on health. In this budget forthcoming next week, will he clarify if there will be provision to increase the level of GP coverage around the country? I think all of us, in rural and urban areas alike, are hearing about the difficulty in accessing GP services, and about GPs who report being overworked and facing difficulties in establishing practices and in succession. GPs are retiring and are unable to recruit successors. What will be done in the budget for that? I also want to ask about the extension of free GP care to all those under 18. The Taoiseach referred to it in his opening remarks. The Labour Party in particular has been committed to ensuring that roll-out is continued and we are keen to see something in the budget for that.”
“We must see a real plan to increase the supply of housing. Our concern is that the budget will simply set more fictitious goals, as fictitious as the numbers that Fianna Fáil gave us on housing delivery in the general election campaign last year. Can the Taoiseach assure us there will be a real plan in place to build more homes?”
“Daft.ie reports today that the asking price for a home is nearly 40% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, 5,145 children are in homelessness. Last Friday's figures again showed a new shameful record, with the creeping up of the numbers in homelessness and a new record being set every month. Every day, we all hear from people with good jobs, many of them couples with two incomes, who are giving up on trying to buy a home because they simply have no prospect of being able to get a mortgage or afford to buy a home. The Land Development Agency chairperson has estimated that as many as 70% of workers in Ireland are effectively priced out of the housing market, both for renting and for purchase. In next week's budget, the Government must make a meaningful dent in the national response to the housing emergency.”
“Since then, the Minister and Bernard Gloster have said that they were kept in the dark about aspects of the reports into CHI. We are all wondering what changed the Taoiseach's mind. Why are we now bringing CHI under the remit of the HSE?”
“We all agree that the healthcare system, in particular children's healthcare, should be managed according to patient need, and not institutional need. As the Taoiseach has acknowledged, that has been a failing in the past. We welcome his commitment to engagement between the Minister and parents on the shape of the inquiry. Transparency must be at the heart of the inquiry for parents. Coming back to CHI and the institutional change that has now been announced, back in April our health spokesperson, Deputy Sherlock, called for the HSE to take over the running of CHI. That was in response to the HIQA report detailing myriad failings: a failure to provide care, the use of non-surgical springs and a toxic internal culture. We all recall this. At that time, the Taoiseach expressed confidence in the board.”
“Another thing to clarify is that back in April, the Taoiseach expressed confidence in Children's Health Ireland, even after a damning HIQA report was published, yet now we learn that CHI is being integrated into the HSE, as we had called for. I am asking the Taoiseach to clarify the following. First, will he commit that parents will have a genuine role in developing the terms of reference of this inquiry? Second, does he agree that it must be a statutory, public inquiry?”
“Children with scoliosis and spina bifida, in particular, are paying a high price for the inability to deal with spinal surgery waiting lists. This has to be resolved for children who have already been failed, those in the system now and those who will have to wait in future. The political system has not covered itself in glory on this. Gillian Sherratt says she still has not received answers as to why her son was removed from the urgent surgery list. The orphan report was never published, and nor were the Dickson report and the Nayagam report. As Deputy Sherlock has said, the Government needs to clarify the sequencing of these reports.”
“In many cases their condition is deteriorating as they languish on a waiting list. We know other children have had unnecessary hip surgeries. None of us will forget the heartbreaking testimony we have heard from parents who spoke about having to listen to children wailing with pain through the night. Families cannot take any more false hope or promises on this. We all know that, back in 2017, the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach's second in command, committed that no child would wait longer than four months for spinal surgery. Infamously and tragically, that promise came to nothing. We might, indeed, reflect on the fact a child who was ten years of age at the time that commitment was given would now be ageing out of the paediatric system. We have spoken before in this House about the failings at Children's Health Ireland, which are ongoing.”
“Sadly, Harvey died in July this year at the age of nine, eight months after eventually having surgery, having waited years for his operation. I reiterate my deepest sympathies to his family. Deputy Sherlock and I have already done so in person. I commend his parents and the campaigners from other parent groups of children suffering with these conditions who have campaigned and given such powerful advocacy. Many of us will have heard Gillian speaking powerfully on "Morning Ireland" this morning, emphasising two important asks in respect of the inquiry. The first is that it must be public and the second is that it must be statutory. The Taoiseach and the Government have three weeks now to do right by every child impacted. Nothing less than a statutory public inquiry will do because children are still facing long delays for surgery.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I ask that we step aside from the cheap political point scoring for a moment. I want to raise a very serious issue on which I think there is commonality across this House, which is children's health. Specifically, the issue of children who have been suffering with scoliosis and spina bifida who have been failed for far too long by this State. I welcome the announcement this week that an inquiry will be held into the care of these children. This followed a long-awaited meeting between the Tánaiste, the Minister for Health and the brave and tireless advocates Gillian and Stephen Morrison Sherratt. As we know, their son Harvey was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and developing scoliosis.”
“I ask the Minister if he and his Government will stand firm against these bizarre theories that have no basis in science. Will the Government call out anti-science rhetoric, particularly where it pertains to autistic people, and will it commit to seeing services installed, particularly in this budget, to allow autistic people in Ireland to live with dignity and have access to the services that are so desperately needed?”
“I will add that all our thoughts are with those on the flotilla. It is hugely important that Ireland does all it can on the world stage to ensure the safety of those on board. This week, we saw the US President and health secretary coming out with bizarre and unfounded assertions about links between paracetamol and autism. I want to share the horror of AsIAm CEO Adam Harris, who said that the risk of harmful tropes could set us back decades with regard to understanding autism. He said it is dangerous to make these sorts of claims because it stigmatises autistic people and poses a danger to public health. I am concerned about the impact those remarks in the US may have on autistic people here, not least because of the disgraceful remarks made about autism here just last week by a Member of this Chamber, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae.”
“This summer, the Minister for climate wrote to the planning regulator giving a green light to LNG, a light that is green in the metaphorical sense only because it is a policy U-turn at a time when this country faces up to €26 billion in fines for failing to achieve our legally binding climate targets. With respect, we know Minister O'Brien has form for missing targets. He was the housing Minister in the previous Government and the approach to climate targets in this Government reminds me of Fianna Fáil's reliance on inflated home delivery targets during the last general election campaign.”
“I acknowledge Deputy Heneghan, who is on the flotilla along with other Irish citizens. We wish them all well and hope for their safety. This Government's response to me on climate is another classic exercise in deflection. We heard it earlier during the Government's response to the motion on child poverty and child homelessness. It was deflection and side stepping. Of course this Government is not as bad as Trump on climate but there has been a noticeable shift away from taking climate seriously. I mentioned the road building issue. Let us look at LNG as well.”
“What we are asking for today is that the Government will give a commitment that this budget will take climate seriously and we will see serious measures adopted to invest in meeting our climate targets, making our communities more secure. We want to see the warmer homes scheme fixed so retrofitting can work for everyone. We want to see real State investment in developing renewables and rolling out offshore wind. Will the Government take climate seriously in this budget? Will the Minister give us a commitment today that it will do so?”
“There are still people impacted by the worst effects of climate change, such as Storm Éowyn and other storms. People are continuing to struggle with the cost of repairs. There are no big ideas on climate forthcoming from the Government. We saw the climate targets retained in the programme for Government. That was welcome. However, there was no pathway to achieve them. At the outset of the formation of this Government, there was the slashing of funds for sustainable travel, public transport, and cycling and active travel in favour of building more and more roads. The Government's policy continues to turn a blind eye to the impact of data centres on emissions, household bills and energy security. Retrofitting too often remains the preserve of the wealthy.”
“We are seeing catastrophic effects of climate change around the world – forest fires, mudslides and floods. Despite this, certain political leaders internationally are tragically turning away from the science and are embracing climate denial and conspiracy theories. We scoff at Trump’s appalling rhetoric on climate, but here at home since the Green Party left government, we have also seen a shift. The Government is not taking climate change seriously enough. This is having real impact on people's lives. Hard-pressed households are facing impossible choices this winter while struggling to cover home heating bills due to huge hikes in fossil fuel costs. A total of 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills. There is no sign of a winter moratorium on disconnections.”
“I wish to express my condemnation of the attacks last night on the global flotilla for Gaza. Our former constituency colleague Senator Chris Andrews is among the Irish citizens on the flotilla. I urge the Minister to work with EU colleagues to ensure the safety of all those on that flotilla. It is appalling to see attacks in this way, and it is yet another example of Israel feeling it can apparently act with impunity against international law. This week, a stark warning on climate was issued to the Government. Research by Met Éireann and Maynooth University shows that Ireland experienced extraordinarily high temperatures during the summer of 2025 with average night-time temperatures beating all previous records. This is a terrifying finding.”
“I wish to start by joining in the tributes to Julie Lyons. We wish her and her family well on her well-deserved retirement after 34 years and seeing off nine taoisigh. We will miss her. My colleagues have reminded me just how kind and generous she has always been, particularly to the children who visit this House regularly. That has been really appreciated, and also the way she brought fun to our food - Christmas dinners in September and the legendary Markievicz trifles. I thank her very much for everything. She will be missed.”
“We have suggested that this could be the budget in which we see a Government take really serious measures to end child poverty, the eviction of children and child homelessness. Even the Government's stated ambition falls far short of that. We see nothing and have heard nothing from the Minister, Deputy Browne, or his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, today which suggests that the Government is going to adopt measures that would have a real impact on addressing the scourges of child poverty and homelessness in our in our society today. One in five children, that is, 250,000, are living in poverty and 5,000 are homeless. This is a shameful record, and the budget should be serious about tackling it.”
“It lacks any ambition or sense of urgency. At the end of the countermotion, the Government says absolutely nothing. It says it is committed to further progress and will use the budget to prioritise measures to reduce child poverty and homelessness. What are these measures? If the Government is not introducing a second tier of child benefit or investing in the measures we have discussed, including the tenant in situ scheme, to ensure that families will be safe from homelessness, what is it going to do? What about a no-fault eviction ban, which would ensure that children are not affected? Let us end child evictions. I commend Deputies Wall and Sherlock on putting forward the motion and my other colleagues for speaking to it. Our colleagues have put forward constructive measures.”
“The Government is choosing to rely on market forces rather than adopting the active State policies and interventions that would make a difference. It is choosing not to invest in ensuring that the concept of tenant in situ becomes truly effective. It is choosing not to invest in a second tier of child benefit. Earlier, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, said that the Government will not create a new second tier of child benefit. That is regrettable. The Government has had two years to work on this. We all know it is complex, but there has been a great deal of research done and it is regrettable that the Government is not taking a targeted approach to addressing child poverty. The Government's countermotion is derisory. I read the wording and could not believe it. It refers to the Government's priority of a reduction in child poverty.”
“That is a sum that we in Labour believe would be better spent on alleviating child poverty and tackling child homelessness. That is what the Government should be doing. The proposed VAT cut is a sledgehammer approach. It is going to benefit the bigger companies, namely the McDonald's of this world. That is not effective. It is not effective to support the struggling independent cafés and restaurants which need targeted supports from the Government. It is certainly not enough to support the families who are desperate and at the end of their tether because they cannot see any way to secure a roof over their heads and those of their children this winter. There are clear ideological choices for the Minister and his Government colleagues to make in respect of the budget.”
“As I said yesterday, they see nothing from this Government; no safety. The Minister talks about tenant in situ, but there are no new acquisitions. We cannot make tenant in situ work for the families who come to us. The Minister knows this. Of course we criticised the Government's circular. We did so because it was rendering a scheme that was supposed to be a safety net utterly ineffective for the families we are seeking to support. I will give the Minister another figure - €630 million. That is the amount the Government is apparently looking to spend on an untargeted VAT reduction for the hospitality sector. If the VAT cut is to be in respect of food and catering alone, that would be €630 million. For the entire hospitality sector, it would be closer to €800 million.”
“It is an utterly shameful figure. It represents a record high in the numbers of children who are without a home under the Minister's watch. He can deflect and seek to scapegoat others all he likes, but this is under his watch. He is the Minister for housing, and it is simply not good enough to say he will be taking decisive decisions to reduce and take children out of homelessness. How is he going to do it? We are proposing to him measures that would take children out of homelessness, patently, because all the people he just quoted to us are telling us all that what is driving children into homelessness are evictions from the private rental sector. Therefore, we are saying let us do something creative and constructive to help and support the children and families we are all hearing from all the time who are utterly despairing.”
“What an extraordinary attempt at deliberate deflection that was by a Minister who has nothing of substance to say in response to our careful, thoughtful and constructive motion. The Minister asked us about figures from the Labour Party side. There is one very stark figure that should be uppermost in his mind and uppermost in the minds of all his Government colleagues, and that is the 5,000 children who are homeless.”
“How will the Minister give people peace of mind when we see this level of violence and see attacks like these occurring in Dublin city centre in spite of announcements from Garda headquarters and the Department about visible policing on the streets?”
“All of us are appalled to learn of the stabbings of a teenager and of a tourist in his 20s in Dublin over the weekend. We all think of those who have been injured and of their families. News of these attacks put fear into people. Knife crime is a real concern for many, particularly in Dublin city centre. An Garda Síochána, to much fanfare from the Minister's side of the House, announced an increase in visible policing only recently. That is very welcome but we are concerned that in rural areas and some urban areas we have seen a drop in Garda numbers when read alongside retirement and resignation figures. We have real concerns over numbers of those involved in community policing and concerns over implementation of the Dublin city task force recommendations.”
“The Minister said he is not going to announce budget proposals now. The Government could, however, take two of the steps we are calling on it to take in the motion we have tabled for tomorrow, which I hope it will support. Those steps do not involve budget proposals and could be taken now. One, will the Government pass our Labour Party Bill to protect families with children from homelessness and, two, will it restore the ban on no-fault evictions where children are involved? That simple measure would be a stopgap for sure, but it would offer struggling, despairing families some immediate safety net and respite.”
“Of course increasing supply is a huge part of resolving the housing crisis. We will be putting forward constructive, costed proposals in our alternative budget next week, just as we did in our manifesto last year, on how to increase the supply. The reality is that the Government has not met its own targets on house building. The Minister knows that. On the tenant in situ scheme, of course it was a safety net that was introduced. We all agree it should have been introduced; however, the Government has gutted it, filleted it, so it is simply ineffective. All of us, including the Minister’s own backbenchers, are hearing it. Our Labour Party motion tomorrow is putting forward practical, constructive ways in which the Government can address the specific issue of child homelessness.”
“Third, will he go further and act to end the eviction of children? We could do that. The Minister could do that. He could prevent evictions of children in homelessness beyond the 5,000 that have already occurred.”
“As I have said, our representatives are dealing every day with families facing eviction and families whose applications have been turned down. We are hearing about despair, people who see no future for themselves and people who, horrifically, are even expressing suicidal thoughts because of the lack of hope in this housing disaster. Where are they to go? What are we to offer them? What is the Government to offer them? There is so much the Government could do. It has said that putting hard-pressed families at the centre of the budget will be its priority. If so, let us hear from the Minister on whether he will use the budget to restore the tenant in situ scheme to full functionality. Will he ensure local authorities prioritise housing children, as per our Labour Party Bill, which he had supported previously?”
“In March this year, new restrictions from the Government all but eliminated the safety net for far too many people. No new acquisitions were sanctioned across Dublin city or in Cork. Under criticism from the Government's own councillors, the Minister, Deputy Browne, has now issued a letter to local authorities. We hear it states that they can now proceed with more acquisitions up to a value of 30% of their original 2025 budget. However, those commitments are for 2026, so it seems that the Minister is borrowing into next year, kicking the can down the road and doing nothing for families whose applications under the tenant in situ scheme have already been rejected this year because central government, it seems, has turned off the tap. The numbers involved are rising.”
“At the hardest edge of the crisis are those children in housing insecurity, who are facing the awful prospect of eviction. The thought of that resonates with all of us. Families are in despair. Individuals are in despair. I talked this morning with my Labour Party colleagues, who are hearing daily, as I am, from people who are becoming increasingly desperate because of the lack of housing. Increasingly, our representatives, and I am sure the Government representatives, are finding they can offer those people nothing because there is no safety net for families, or anyone else, facing eviction. We learned today that the Minister for housing has written to councils about the tenant in situ scheme, which was the safety net that the Government introduced to keep families in their homes when landlords were choosing to sell up.”
“The families of one in five children in Ireland, which means more than 225,000 children, now live below the breadline. Ours is a relatively wealthy country and yet more than 5,000 children are homeless. Those are 5,000 children in emergency accommodation who are doing their homework on the floors of hotel rooms or family hubs. Far too many are living in overcrowded homes with multiple generations all under one roof. The Minister may not be the Minister for Finance yet, but his party has the housing portfolio and he is the TD for Dublin Bay South. Across the communities that the Minister and I represent, multiple generations and branches of family trees are crammed into one tiny space because of the housing crisis and disaster.”
“It is no surprise tech companies are doing this but what is surprising is that the Data Protection Commission has been aware of this illegal behaviour since a whistleblower informed it in 2017. It is not about lack of legislation or lack of money. We understand the DPC has received €162.3 million since 2017. Given that the DPC has been aware of the use of RTB location data for eight years, how can we continue to have confidence in the DPC to protect people in the face of what could be a very serious threat to individual privacy and indeed could amount to a national security threat?”
“I again express my solidarity with the Tánaiste and his family in the face of the horrible threats made against him, which I have condemned. Indeed, they are profoundly anti-democratic. We know that the online space plays a huge role in fomenting this sort of hate. In that context we should all be concerned to see the exposé on RTÉ's "Prime Time" tonight, which will show the serious national security threat arising from the sale of real-time bidding location data. "Prime Time" investigators were handed RTB data showing movements of individuals, including family members of prominent individuals around their homes and other spaces. The Tánaiste's experience highlights just how serious and how appalling this could be.”
“Some of them are living in my constituency and are desperately distressed as they watch their family members under daily bombardment from Israel in Gaza. We are doing all we can to try to get them out. I would welcome more effort from the Government on getting family members out to join the people already here. I welcome the Tánaiste's push for an urgent meeting at EU level. Will he also push at UN level? The Government supported a Labour Party motion in May looking for Ireland to push this at UN level, through the General Assembly of the United Nations, to take action towards us securing a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. Will he push on that too?”
“I thank the Tánaiste for that comprehensive response. I would welcome a briefing on the occupied territories Bill - anything to move things on there. I absolutely agree with him on the need for transnational and international action, but we can and should also act unilaterally because we have a strong voice of moral authority. There are like-minded states. I know this from my engagement at EU level. Spain and Belgium are with us on this. We can and should do more on the occupied territories Bill. It is similar on the evacuees from Palestine. I welcome that and the Tánaiste's announcement that 15 will arrive tomorrow. There were due to be 30. I have been working with him and the Minister for justice to try to ensure we see family reunification for those who have already come here from Gaza on the medevac programme.”
“I realise the Government has taken issue with them but we need to set an example here. Will the Tánaiste legislate to ban the trade with occupied territories in goods and services this autumn? Will he take on board the Bill Duncan Smith has proposed for Labour to protect workers who refuse to handle goods coming from the illegal Israeli settlements?”
“Companies implicated include eDreams, TUI travel, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Barclays. At home, an investigation by The Guardian in August revealed that Palestinian phone calls are being illegally recorded by the Israeli military. These audio files are being stored on Microsoft servers here in Ireland, in Irish data centres. One whistleblower from Microsoft told The Guardian : “Suddenly the entire public [in Palestine] was our enemy.” The scale of the illegal interception is extraordinary. We cannot stand by while Netanyahu’s brutal project is being facilitated by Irish-based infrastructure. We cannot put an FDI-shaped price on human rights. I welcome the new approach by the European Commission this week and the proposed suspension of the Israel–EU agreement but we cannot leave our response in the hands of obstructive states like Hungary.”
“Israel must be isolated by the international community in every global forum – culturally, in sport, in academia, and through trade in goods and services. We all agree no country is too small to make an impact. Ireland is making an impact. We have acknowledged that the Irish Government has been to the fore among European countries but we can do better. We can do more and no delay can be justified. On Monday, I joined organisations, including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Oxfam and Christian Aid, at the gates of Leinster House with Senator Frances Black. We are calling for the urgent implementation of the occupied territories Bill in full because new research reveals the extent to which EU trade in both goods and services with illegal Israeli settlements is directly contributing to serious breaches of international law in Palestine.”
“Words fail us all when we learn of the atrocities being committed by Israel. The findings of the UN commission of inquiry this week should be a turning point for the world. Its conclusion, that genocide is being committed in Gaza, should change things, but the advisory opinion of the ICJ last year should have changed things too, as should the constant stream of deeply horrifying reports from UNRWA, UNICEF and individual medics and journalists working in Gaza. Instead, what we have seen are indifference and indeed encouragement by the likes of Germany and the US, which have egged on Netanyahu and his brutal regime. By arming Israel, those countries are being complicit in the committing of genocide.”
“Like the Tánaiste, I acknowledge the very sad news emerging from Donabate. We all think of the little boy concerned, Daniel Aruebose. Our councillor Corina Johnston expressed this morning on the radio the great sadness and distress of the community of Donabate at the sad find. The genocide taking place in Gaza reached intolerable levels of cruelty and carnage over the summer. More than 65,000 people have been killed and a famine has been declared. The famine review committee says 100% of the population in Gaza is now experiencing a high level of acute food insecurity. Children are dying of starvation, being orphaned and shot in the head in the streets. There are literally no words to describe the destruction of human life and infrastructure we are witnessing daily.”
“On the student housing strategy, there has again been a delay in publishing it. Yet at this time, as freshers' weeks are in place across the country, we are seeing students struggling to find a secure place to rent at any sort of affordable price. When will we see a student accommodation strategy?”
“We know the level of homelessness is at record highs. The key to tackling homelessness and the housing crisis is ensuring increased supply, but the number of planning permissions for new housing is falling and house prices and rents are rising. We were originally led to believe the Government's new housing plan would be published over the summer. It was then delayed, and now it is said it will be later this year. When will the Government's plan be published? Specifically on the Land Development Agency, a report from the Department of Finance has found the agency will only make a small contribution, it seems, to the Government's housing targets. Can the Taoiseach confirm how many homes will be delivered by the LDA this year and next year? Will the Government resource it to ramp up supply, as we in the Labour Party have proposed?”
“However, there is so much that central government could do and we in Labour are calling on it to do two things that would address the scourge of child homelessness: pass Labour's homeless families Bill to ensure local councils must prioritise protection of children from homelessness, and second, reverse the Minister for housing's cuts to the tenant in situ scheme. What we are hearing from local authorities is they need more resources to enable them to activate a scheme that was supposed to keep families out of homelessness, namely, the tenant in situ scheme, which has in fact been almost entirely ineffective because it has been starved of resources.”
“I return to the Government’s failure to provide for children. The thought of one child in homelessness is awful, but last month the number of children in homelessness in Ireland surpassed 5,000 for the first time - another shameful record. We see now more than 16,000 people altogether without a home. On the media this week, the Taoiseach sought to deflect blame from central government to local authorities, calling out councils for dragging their feet, for inertia and lack of proactivity on ensuring increased housing supply.”
“This phenomenon of the working poor is something that the Government has failed to take effective measures to address and we are not seeing any indication, just a few weeks out from the budget, that there are going to be any measures adopted in this budget that will help families who are struggling in this way, who simply cannot find a way to meet their household costs. People are looking for reassurance from the Taoiseach. We are looking for some indication that the Government will build that sustainable safety net for families and households that are struggling and that it will offer them some hope in this budget that they will be able to meet their rising costs.”