Rory Hearne
Dublin North-West · Social Democrats · Ireland
“I thank you, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle, for your work and support during the year and thank all the staff here. I wish my colleagues in government the best of luck over the summer and respite from our robust engagement. We look forward to going at it again in the autumn.”
“The Dublin public will be very upset when they realise their fire fighters and emergency response service are at risk of being split and downgraded.”
“I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. It is important to have a discussion about the context of education costs and back-to-school costs. Of course, the context is massive inequality in this country.”
“However, what it is actually doing is throwing families into even more stress on top of not being able to pay the basic bills. In my constituency to respond and support families struggling with back-to-school costs, the Finglas voluntary food and family support service, Feed Our Homeless, last year organised help for families with a pop-u…”
“A second tier of child benefit would lift 55,000 children out of poverty but the Government will not do it. It costs the same as what it has given in tax breaks to developers, investor funds and large fast-food giants. Childhoods pass quickly. No child should have their future limited by poverty.”
“The Government is ramming through planning legislation this week that will exempt sheds out the back without proper scrutiny. It is satisfied with handing our young people to vulture landlords. The Government is now offering a future of renting a shed out the back with no rights whatsoever.”
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“I thank Deputy Quaide for the work he has done to bring forward this motion and, indeed, the commitment of the Social Democrats to prioritising people with disabilities through its policies and what it does. We should be straight here. The Irish State has never treated disabled people as equal citizens of this Republic. One or both of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has been in government since the foundation of the State. What is the history? It is one of shameful treatment. People have been hidden and institutionalised. What we are seeing today is a new form of individualised institutionalisation. Adults with intellectual disability, when their parents die or they cannot be there for them any more, are being hidden in all sorts of individual privatised homes without the care or the connection to their community.”
“The scale of poverty in the North and South, including child poverty, is unacceptable. No one wants to see that. Building towards and working for a united Ireland has to involve how we solve these fundamental problems that are rupturing the social contract, North and South, and leading to further division and hate and a decline in social cohesion. We believe in building a united Ireland and putting these issues to the core of that can create a fair united Ireland for all of us where all communities are included.”
“We want to see a vision for a united Ireland that is a welcoming Ireland, inclusive of all communities - new Irish, immigrants, old Irish, unionist and nationalist. Teastaíonn ó na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta Éire aontaithe a fheiceáil, is í sin, Éire agus Poblacht nua ina bhfuilimid aontaithe ar an oileán seo chun deireadh a chur le bochtaineacht leanaí agus easpa dídine agus chun a chinntiú gur féidir le gach duine saol inacmhainne a chaitheamh. We all believe that the work and process towards a united Ireland must be founded on the values that we want to see in the new island, namely, respect for everyone, inclusion of all communities, equality and human rights and, fundamentally, the belief in the decency and dignity of all. To do that will require changing the North and South in terms of how our economies and societies are structured.”
“Our vision for how we engage them is a vision of a united Ireland that is a social democratic Ireland, a new republic, where we are united on this island in ending child poverty, ending homelessness and ensuring everyone can have an affordable life, where young people can afford to buy or rent an affordable home, where disadvantaged communities across this island can have safe spaces, where children can play in decent playgrounds and sports facilities and where, whether they are unionists or nationalists, in the South or the North, everyone can live a life with dignity. What we believe in is a social democratic republicanism that wants to build a social democratic Ireland that radically reduces inequalities across this island, where everyone can live a decent life.”
“Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. There are a lot of important aspects to this that merit serious engagement. I reiterate my colleague’s call on the Government to seriously engage with this. I do not believe its response was a serious engagement. If we are serious about a united Ireland, it will take a massive amount of work on inclusion and engagement and that work has to start now. While the Government has set out the different initiatives it has taken, it is clearly not substantive in engaging all communities and offering a pathway forward. For us in the Social Democrats, we believe that all communities must be engaged.”
“It is important to increase that. Unfortunately, other aspects of the Bill make it very difficult to support it as a whole. I will continue to engage with it and I hope the Minister can address some of these issues in committee.”
“The Bill will not address or solve homelessness. It will not provide homes that people can live in because the changes to apartment sizes and standards are about increasing profitability so developers and investor funds build more units that nobody can afford to buy or rent. As we have seen in reports from the Central Bank and others, institutional funds increase rents overall. The Government's claim that this is about increasing supply and will eventually reduce rents is untrue. The Department repeats the same mantra, namely that increasing supply will reduce rents. There is no point in the near future when that will happen. Rents will simply increase, which is pushing more and more people into homelessness. I support some aspects of the Bill, such as giving the Housing Agency increased borrowing capacity.”
“The mother described how stressful it is for her older kids. She said they have been in this situation and have seen no normal life. She said no child should have to deal with this and they are stuck in extreme conditions, living in rooms together. She said they have no family to visit because her mum and dad passed away. They cannot get a break. She said it is distressing and embarrassing for the children. This is something that frustrates me. The impact of homelessness on children is not being taken into account. It is extremely damaging for children, even if a child is homeless for a short period of time, such as a week or two weeks - we know it is often much longer. One could argue that this is not related to the Bill but it is directly related to it because it claims to address homelessness.”
“It will not put in place a ban on evictions, which it could do and would solve people being pushed into homelessness. Instead, it is making changes that institutional investors and developers want. It is deeply unfortunate that the Government is taking this approach. I want to highlight a case that came to me. There is a human reality to all of this which I have raised in the House again and again and which the Government is completely ignoring. There is a human cost to the housing crisis. A constituent who was in touch with me highlighted that they have been in homelessness for year. Prior to that, they were in homelessness for three years and got a HAP property for a year but were made homeless when they were evicted. This family, with three children aged 16, 12 and four, have been homeless for four out of the past five years.”
“Just a tiny fraction of what is being built in Dublin, including in my constituency, will be available for sale. No apartments are available for sale. Nothing is being sold at a reasonable price. Of course, this adds to house price inflation because everyone is trying to buy existing built homes and there is no supply of homes to buy that could reduce house prices. The lack of affordable homes to buy being delivered in our cities, in particular Dublin, is the fundamental problem. The Minister spoke about the justifications for these changes, which are outlined in the Bill. He said it is about addressing homelessness and providing residential supply. He spoke about what is changing. The reality is that the housing disaster is happening right now. What is the Government is doing about it?”
“It is funnelling, and will funnel in the coming years, millions of euro in public money into private developers and investor funds and reduce the livability of homes at the same time in order to increase their profitability so that they will build more units which are not actually homes. This is about increasing units, not providing homes. IRES REIT and the developers and investors have been very clear that they are delighted with the changes and being given open access to a public sector ATM slush fund, which is effectively what we are doing rather than expanding our public sector and councils and developing a State construction company that would build affordable homes. The reality is that more expensive built rent units will not solve our housing disaster or provide any more new homes for people to buy that are affordable.”
“I am concerned that the apartment standard size changes the Minister is about to make are about reducing standards and the livability of apartments to achieve what the Government calls viability but which we should call profitability. The term "viability" is a politically safe word. The Government will not state the truth, namely that this is about reducing housing standards so they are sufficiently profitable for developers and institutional investors who are already making hundreds of millions in profit. They are doing so because the State is dependent on the private sector to build.”
“The point he made was that new apartment standards introduced by the Minister will now make apartments smaller and reduce the amount of dual aspect apartments required in any one development, the requirement for balconies and floor-to-ceiling heights, all in the interest of increasing financial viability for developers. The viability of being able to live in these apartments, in particular with more frequent hotter summers, has not been given as much ministerial attention. I ask the Minister and his officials to give the committee some clear detail next week on how these apartments will be livable, in particular in the context of climate change, and what impact climate change is likely to have on these changes and the livability of the apartments.”
“A significant concern is that this is about cramming as many units as possible into a site for two reasons. The first is for viability, which is profitability, and the second is so the Government can say it is delivering whatever number of units but are they actually homes? I also want to read into the record an article by Dr. Lorcan Sirr on the implications of the changes to apartment sizes for climate change. He referred to the real issue, namely that apartments with windows on more than one side, known as dual aspect, have a considerable advantage over those that do not as windows can be opened to cross-ventilate the dwelling. Single aspect apartments can get stiflingly hot and have limited capacity for ventilation.”
“I want to highlight what the Irish Planning Institute said about the changes being made to apartment guidelines. It stated very clearly that professional planners not only recognise the gravity of the housing crisis, they welcome meaningful evidence-based reforms but the institute is not convinced that the announced changes to apartment sizes and standards would achieve what is intended. It said the erosion of unit mix requirements presents a market-led approach to housing that is fundamentally at odds with the significant work undertaken by the Department of housing to create a plan-led system with high-quality long-term sustainable outcomes. That is the major concern. What we are building will not provide sustainable communities and homes.”
“Is the Government rushing just to try to be seen to be doing something, given that it is not taking substantial time to look at this Bill? There are very significant changes in the Bill. In particular, the one that I am most concerned about is the change to apartment sizes. This has the most impact on my constituency. New apartments are being built in places like Santry and Whitehall, and will be built in places like Ballymun. It is all apartments that are being built in my constituency. These are going to have profound changes for the livability of those apartments. It feels like the Government is simply ignoring the Opposition and is not taking our concerns seriously or giving us the time to scrutinise the Bill and discuss it with professional bodies.”
“I echo what Deputy Ó Broin has outlined, which is the Opposition’s extreme disappointment at the pace at which this Bill is being rushed through. It does not take seriously the role of Parliament. It is also extremely frustrating that the Government gives out and complains that the Opposition does not come forward with solutions when the key point - the only point, really - at which we have a real opportunity to engage with Government policy in a meaningful way is on legislation, amendments and discussion at committees. With this Bill, we have two hours for 86 pages. This shows me that the Government is afraid of something here. It is unwilling to engage in serious debate and discussion on what is in this Bill. If it were not concerned, it would give the Bill the time.”
“I would ask the Government to reconsider, put housing central to what it is to do in the next six months, and use this as an opportunity to bring European governments together and bring a resolution to the housing crisis.”
“You would think that we in this country, which has the worst housing crisis in Europe, would use the opportunity of the Presidency to put solving the housing crisis in Europe at the heart of what we are doing, yet there was not a mention of it. What a wasted opportunity. We talk about threats to Europe and to the European project, yet young people feel completely excluded and alienated from Europe when they cannot get the basic need of having a home met. That is not a social Europe. It is not the Europe that was envisioned by the founders of the European Union. It is not the European Union that we want to see where people can have a decent life - a life with dignity. That starts with having a home.”
“António Costa, said at the ceremony today, is one of the biggest issues facing Europe today, but yet when you look at the Government's plans for the Presidency, there was not a mention of housing in the 13 pages of the two speeches. It is incredible. Across Europe today, there is a generation who cannot afford to pay the rent. They cannot afford to buy a home. They do not see a future where they can start families. They are facing record rents and record house prices because governments have failed to build social housing and have turned housing into an investment asset for landlords. We see the latter in AirBnB. The fundamental failure is that, across Europe, housing as not been treated as a human right.”
“I will raise two issues. The first is the issue of policing. It is deeply disappointing that there has been a reduction in Garda resources across the country as a result of the EU Presidency. In my own constituency, Ballymun and Finglas Garda stations will see a reduction in the coming months as a result of gardaí being allocated elsewhere in relation to the Presidency. There is a feud ongoing in Ballymun and shots fired yesterday. We cannot have a situation whereby the EU Presidency results in a reduction in safety in communities, particularly our most disadvantaged communities. I would like the Government to give a commitment to ensuring that that will not be the case. Second, on the issue of housing, it really is incredible. Housing, as the President of the European Council, Mr.”
“The cost of raising children in this country has increased by 60% in the past decade. Childcare provision is a key area in which the Government has the power to reduce the cost of living. However, it has failed to deliver its promise of a cap on childcare fees of €200 per month. We in the Social Democrats have a plan for making childcare affordable through public affordable childcare provision and early years services. This would reduce the cost for parents, improve workers' pay and deliver childcare for all those awaiting it. Tá costas iomarcach ag baint le leanaí a bheith againn. Tá cúram leanaí inacmhainne ag teastáil ónár nglúin óg. Tá plean ag na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta chun cúram leanaí a dhéanamh inacmhainne. Cén fáth nach ndéanann an Rialtas é?”
“Alongside a cost-of-living crisis, we now have a cost-of-having-babies crisis in this country. Young people want to have children but they just cannot afford it. The cost-of-living and cost-of-housing crises have become so bad, our younger generations cannot afford children, or if they have one child, they cannot afford a second. We are one of the richest countries in the world on paper. The Government has record surpluses but it has failed to provide the most basic aspect of a functioning society, namely, the capacity for people to afford to raise children without living in fear and worry about being able to pay for the very basic costs. Barnardos has highlighted that almost half of parents are skipping meals to ensure their children have enough to eat. That is an absolute scandal.”
“I thank Deputy Kerrane and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this really important motion. It is very close to my heart as someone with children going through the early years sector. I thank the early years educators who provide an excellent and caring service and who are absolutely not treated properly. I completely support SIPTU's campaign for proper pay and conditions. I thank the Minister for coming to my constituency of Dublin North-West to visit childcare and early years services and see at first hand the need for investment. I ask her to support the investment in early years provision in Ballymun that is urgently needed. People have raised the particular issue with me of young people in this country who can and want to have children but are deciding it is not possible because they cannot afford it.”
“He is retired and now the council needs discretion to address their issue. What kind of society are we becoming when a 67-year-old double amputee is being evicted and facing homelessness? Will the Tánaiste correct his statement from last week when he said the majority of tenants are covered by a no-fault evictions ban? That is not true. The majority of 250,000 rental households who are not covered by the new measures are still at risk of eviction into homelessness.”
“The Dublin Simon Community's report this week showed a 20% increase in the number of women accessing its homeless services. We are in the midst of an unprecedented human catastrophe, with mass evictions taking place across this country. Families, children and the elderly are being evicted from their homes. A total of 30,000 households have been issued a notice to quit just in the last 18 months. One case I want to highlight is from the Tánaiste's own constituency. We were contacted by May Kelly and her husband, Michael, who have been renting in Wicklow for 20 years. They paid their rent on time every month. They are an elderly couple. Michael, who is 67, has been hospitalised and undergone three amputations. They have to vacate their home by December. They have applied to the council but it has said they are over the limit.”
“People are just evicted, and they will find somewhere else. These are real human lives. People are suffering and are being traumatised and, yes, it is about prioritising these people right now over corporate landlords who are saying they do not want an eviction ban. This is a human catastrophe, and the Minister is ignoring it at massive human cost.”
“Is it an emergency or is it not an emergency? It is not actually true that it is just about supply. These people are in homes. If the Minister put in place a ban on evictions, they could be kept in their homes until supply reaches the point where, if they are evicted, they will not be evicted into homelessness. Where are they going to be able to afford to rent? These are elderly people and other people in my constituency. Mothers with two children are contacting me in terror of being evicted and of not knowing where they are going to go. Couple after couple and family after family are in touch with me and I know they are in touch with politicians across this country. I cannot get my head around not just the Minister but the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste referring to people as "churn", and saying churn goes on.”
“They had an income assessment in 2025 which said they were over the threshold for social housing. He is now retired. They are in absolute terror. Their notice to quit says they have to be out of their home by 10 December. Will the Minister look into this specific case and implement a ban immediately to ensure that no elderly couples are being evicted from their homes when they are in situations like this?”
“The Minister talks about me making a political football. It is an absolute disgrace. The reason I am pointing out that we have seen the highest rates of eviction since the Famine is because the Minister and this Government are completely out of touch with the human catastrophe going on right now. I do not believe that he does not see it in his own constituency. We know there was a case of evictions. I want to raise one particular case. May Kelly and her husband Michael were in touch with me. Michael is a double amputee - he had both legs amputated recently – and is a wheelchair user. He is facing eviction. They are an elderly couple who have been in their home for 20 years. They are appealing the decision from Wicklow County Council which is saying there is nothing it can do for them.”
“We are in a wave of evictions the likes of which the country has not seen since the Famine. There is such human misery going on. I am contacted daily by people facing eviction. These are elderly people, young people and families. It is absolutely scandalous. It is the highest rate of evictions. Since Deputy Browne became Minister, 27,000 households have been issued an eviction notice. Last week, the Tánaiste came in here and said the majority of tenants are covered by a no-fault eviction ban. Will the Minister correct the record and say the truth? The majority of tenants are not covered by a no-fault eviction ban. We need an emergency no-fault eviction ban to prevent this wave of human misery.”
“Will it ensure that councils have the funding to compulsorily purchase derelict buildings on the register and turn them into homes?”
“People are sick of seeing derelict buildings across this country when they cannot get a home of their own but the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste's blaming of councils is shameless. The Taoiseach was in government during the Celtic tiger when councils were gutted. Fine Gael has been in government since 2011 and has starved local authorities of funding. The reality is the new derelict sites tax, just like the vacant homes tax, is designed to fail. There are over 20,000 derelict properties but it is only going to apply to those on the register, which is in the region of 2,000 homes. The tax will actually apply to a fraction of derelict sites and buildings. Will the Government give councils sufficient capacity to ensure that every derelict building is put on the register? Will it bring in the tax immediately for all derelict buildings?”
“Similarly, the length of time required for notification of hearings is too short. Tenants need a longer period to prepare their information, book time off work and arrange childcare. It also raises the issue that it is always down to tenants to try to challenge illegal evictions and the idea that our rental systems and its tenant protections are based on tenants having to spend a huge amount of time contacting the RTB and presenting to it. What should be in place is much stronger legal protection for tenants from evictions and rent hikes, but of course the Government is unwilling to do that.”
“Fine Gael has been in power for 15 years and homelessness has risen year after year and then the Minister of State gets up and talks about how the Government's big move on homelessness is to restrict access to emergency accommodation. It is not right. The Government's big action should be to introduce a ban on evictions to stop people being made homeless. Its priorities are all wrong. It is playing into a dangerous politics and it is deeply disappointing to see it being brought forward in this way, and cynical as well. I have significant concerns about the Residential Tenancies Act and the slip rule being applied to statutory declarations. This will also lead to a further increase in evictions and a reduction in the right of tenants to be to challenge illegal notices to quit. This should not be applied to statutory declarations.”
“I have consistently made the point that children are quite invisible within homeless services and in the crisis of homelessness. We do not fully count how many children go through emergency accommodation and present as homeless, and we have not fundamentally accepted the deeply damaging impact on children of spending time in emergency accommodation. The Minister of State's party, Fine Gael, as well as Fianna Fáil, have stood over this homelessness crisis. We have now been at it for over 12 years, since 2014. It is galling to hear the Tánaiste in an interview talk about the housing crisis being an "emergency" and how he is so frustrated things just are not moving.”
“This is set out in Directive 2004/38/EC, which sets out that EU worker households and their family members are specifically protected from the application of the rule that can otherwise bar access to state supports in the first three months of residence. They are also guaranteed equal treatment and non-discrimination under Articles 7 and 9. I ask that this be addressed. Before I move to the issue of the slip rule and the Residential Tenancies Act, I again express my deep concern about the way in which this Bill has been brought forward, the discussion of it, the framing of it and the adding in of the emergency accommodation restriction. The introduction of the best interests of the child should be positive and welcome.”
“It is that the Bill may fail to comply with EU law, especially as it relates to the requirement that all members of a household must satisfy the habitual residence requirement. There is also the issue of EU nationals who are working here and the three-month period. The Irish Homeless Policy Group highlights a concern about the rights of EU workers, who are here with their families and children, to access services within the first three months. The group outlines – and I request an answer specifically on this – that this may be a contravention of EU Regulation No. 492/2011, contrary to the European Court of Justice, and that the fundamental rights of Irish and EU citizen children under Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union will be contravened by this Bill.”
“The centre states it is striking that the Bill fails to give consideration again to the victims of trafficking who may have difficulty satisfying the new habitual residence test. Similarly, it argues that a person returning to Ireland in crisis may have difficulty proving habitual residence and that we need only look at the recent actions of immigration officials in other jurisdiction to see the impact this could have. It said those were merely two examples that jumped out to it from an initial reading of the Bill. The centre also outlined something that needs to be answered. IHREC has asked about this as well and it was also brought up in relation to the pre-legislative scrutiny.”
“These organisations are deeply concerned that these changes are going to make it even harder for people and therefore we are going to see more people put into hidden homelessness. The Mercy Law Resource Centre highlighted in its letter this week - as did Deputy Ó Broin - our concern, along with the concern of those organisations at the speed in which the Government is pushing this through. I asked at the outset why the rush? What is the rush about this? Why are we not taking time to go through this, given the considerations? The Mercy Law Resource Centre and others have significant concerns that the urgency in pushing the Bill through fails to allow time to give it full consideration and to investigate any potential unintended consequences.”
“Local authorities would also ask about this issue of local connection and would refuse people access to emergency accommodation, or try to find ways to refuse people access to emergency accommodation, in part because they simply do not have the emergency accommodation. The organisations also highlighted that discrimination was taking place against particular vulnerable groups, be they Travellers, Roma or migrants, by local authorities and that these organisations were constantly having to advocate. That is part of the work of the likes of the Mercy Law Resource Centre and in my own constituency, the northside community law centre, and Community Law and Mediation. They do a lot of that work trying to advocate on behalf of people to be able to access emergency accommodation.”
“One of the criticisms by the likes of the Mercy Law Resource Centre, the community law centre and those working directly with people trying to access emergency accommodation was that there was no actual requirement on local authorities to provide emergency accommodation and that local authorities were constantly trying to find reasons not to provide it. People who come to my constituency office, and I am sure the Minister of State has it as well, would often say the local authority asked them if there was some couch they could sleep on or if there were parents they could go to as there was no emergency accommodation available.”
“It is absolutely essential that the Department and the Minister respond to that specific issue and outline how these changes are not going to result in this. IHREC also recommended that the legislation be amended to ensure that the five years' reckonable residency requirement does not apply specifically to the victims of trafficking in a manner that is contrary to the EU anti-trafficking directive. The other recommendation was that discretion be given to local authorities to provide social housing supports to these vulnerable cohorts. I have been working for a long time in the area of housing specifically and the right to housing, and one of the issues that has come up is the 1988 Act and issues around it. Indeed, I wrote a research report specifically on it when I was in Maynooth.”
“I am sure the Minister of State has that recommendation and is familiar with it but IHREC recommended that the "legislation should include exemptions from the habitual residence requirement for victims of trafficking and victims of domestic, sexual or gender-based violence." Again, I ask the Minister of State to include that as an amendment and to agree to that as a change because we cannot have a situation whereby we are introducing legislation that will mean that victims of trafficking, which we are obliged to support under international law we have signed up to, and victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence are going to be further marginalised, exposed and unsupported as a result of restricting access to social housing and emergency accommodation.”
“The Irish Homeless Policy Group and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Mercy Law Resource Centre all raise this issue of how these changes are going to impact on particularly vulnerable cohorts. They mention specifically victims of domestic violence and human trafficking and they highlight that the IHREC made a specific recommendation when this went through pre-legislative scrutiny.”
“Of course, what happens if people are denied access to emergency accommodation is they are not counted as homeless. What we will see is a rise in hidden homelessness and in street homelessness - people sleeping in tents and on the streets as a result of these changes. Why would the Government do that? The organisations also outline something that has been mentioned already and that we would support, namely, the social housing appeals board. My understanding is that the previous housing committee recommended that the appeals board would not be within local authorities but would actually be an independent board. I ask the Minister of State to take on board that it is not best practice to develop an appeals mechanism. The appeals mechanism should be done through an organisation independent from local authorities.”
“This includes Irish citizen households returning from abroad in crisis. The issue of how this legislation going to impact on returning Irish emigrants has also been raised. Focus Ireland, Threshold and the Simon Community are concerned that implementing this legislation could lead to an increase in rough sleeping and households being pushed into increasingly vulnerable situations. They say it is critical that families and individuals are provided with accommodation and supports while residency status is determined. The organisations working on the front line of homelessness are saying that this legislation could worsen homelessness. There needs to be a proper response to that to outline how this is not going to worsen homelessness. By that, we do not mean increasing numbers going into emergency accommodation.”
“IHREC is the statutory human rights organisation in this country that the State is supposed to be abiding by. Is the Government going to ignore it? We also have the Irish Homeless Policy Group, which sets out very clearly its concerns. Whatever the Government thinks about listening or not listening to us, this is Focus Ireland, the Simon Communities of Ireland, Threshold, and the organisations that are working on the front line of homelessness. I will set out what the Irish Homeless Policy Group has written this week. It said that along with its key concerns with the proposed Bill, we also ask that members of the committee ensure that the proposed legislation does not in any way prevent access to emergency accommodation while matters relating to residency status are being adjudicated by local authorities.”
“The Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, said it himself that there are people in emergency accommodation who are not entitled to housing in this country. He said they do not have a right to housing here. Very clearly, this is being done in the context of that, to act on that to reduce the entitlements of access to emergency accommodation. What it is doing, and I will set out why, is making the most vulnerable people in this country, those who are homeless, pay for an absolute political failure to deal with a social and economic disaster of the housing crisis and homelessness. I am sure the Minister of State has seen that the organisations are calling for this to be paused. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has written to the Minister, to the Minister of State and to the House this week asking for this to be paused.”
“I am concerned that it is not actually about addressing housing or homelessness but is about being seen, just like the Minister for justice, to be engaged in performative acts of hardening a stance on immigration in order to pander to what we are seeing, which is rising anti-immigrant sentiment and rising racism. We saw the outcome of that in Belfast and we saw it in 2024 here. I have serious concern that the Government is not taking seriously the political impacts of introducing this, why it is introducing it and what messages it is sending out. This is not the start of this. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have been saying for months that homelessness is more complex and is linked to immigration.”