Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 18 Oct 2022

The raw and human impact of the housing crisis was laid bare in heartbreaking fashion on RTE last night. With great courage and dignity, Graham King told how he and his family live in a tent. They have nowhere else to go. His wife, Patricia, and his two children, Grayson and Priya, stay in the tent. He stays in the car. They live day to day. Graham said, I'm on disability and half carers. My wife works. We have to run a car, feed the kids. The expenses add up. And speaking about the conditions in the tent and how his children are coping, he said, it was a game at first. It's not so much anymore. The last couple of nights haven't been good. Wind, rain, that type of weather has already destroyed one tent. This one is holding up, but I don't know how long it will last. I haven't had much sleep because I have to look after the tent while the rest of the family are asleep. The children know they are homeless, but they don't understand the full meaning of it. They cope by occupying themselves. There are playgrounds nearby, a walkway. They feed the ducks. For over a decade, governments have been telling people that they will fix housing. And yet here we are, a father on national television telling his family's story of living in a tent in Ireland in 2022. Minister O'Brien had no answers for Graham. He and his family are still in that tent today. It's day 53. Incredibly, the family are told that they earn too much to qualify for state housing support. And I have no doubt that viewers last night were looking on with a real sense of there but for the grace of God go I. A feeling that this could really happen to anyone, especially with extortionate rent, record levels of homelessness and a maxed out emergency accommodation system. Last Wednesday, for example, last Wednesday night in Dublin 7 in my own constituency, all emergency shelters bar one were full. So when a working family, a family trying to do everything right ends up living in a tent, it is a sign surely that the system is broken beyond recognition. Taoiseach for months, Sinn Féin and others have been calling on you to introduce a winter eviction ban to halt the flow of people into homelessness. And I welcome the fact that it seems you have finally listened and that you will proceed with a ban. That's a first step. Of course, this measure must coincide with an accelerated delivery of affordable homes, tackling crisis rents, increasing income thresholds for social housing and an urgent plan to bring vacant homes into use. But in the here and now, we must ensure that the eviction ban is gotten right. Thank you. There are concerns this morning that the eviction ban may not be introduced until December. That would be far too late. A delay like that would result in hundreds more adults and children being forced into homelessness. But if we work together, we can get the right legislation and we can get it passed very, very quickly to prevent this from happening. So will you do that Taoiseach? Will you ensure that the winter ban on evictions is implemented without any further delay? First of all, I would say to the Deputy that I have said repeatedly in this House, and I stand by my statement, that in my view housing is the single most important social issue facing our country at this moment in time. And access to housing is fundamental to our security, our stability, our health and our progress as a nation. I don't know the individual circumstances in relation to Graham King or indeed his family. I don't know the full background as to the housing they might have had prior to this, but it's not acceptable that a family would be living in a tent. But I would equally say to the Deputy that we need sustained action in relation to housing. And the Housing for All plan is the only substantive plan I have seen over the last 12 months. It's only a year old that deals across the board with a whole range of issues to do with housing. And that has been backed up by significant legislation passed in this House, which at times your party opposed in terms of specifically arguing against the retention of help to buy or the first home scheme or affordable housing. Eventually then when it came to the vote, you voted for some of that through. I've seen no alternatives to the key measures we're taking on social homes. And we will have a record number this year in terms of social houses in recent times. And the key issue for us will be obviously to deliver more houses than the 25,000 that will be delivered this year approximately, which is on target to what we'd identified. This government is in office for just over two years. We've had two lockdowns as a result of COVID and we've had exponential increase in building cost materials and so on, because of the war in Ukraine and the bounce back. But nonetheless, we still have a situation where we have the highest housing delivery now since 2008. The highest commencements on record, highest planning permissions since 2007, highest number of first-time buyers since 2007, the highest number of home buyers since 2008. But that's not enough. But we are having impact, but we need to build more houses than the 25,000. We need to get to 35,000 houses. And that means creating the pipeline that can sustain right through the next number of years. And that is something that the government is very focused on. I mean, this year, in respect of the social houses, in terms of bills and so on, between approved social housing bodies and local authorities, we will have thousands of new social homes built. And that is a reality. Much higher than previous years because a lot of work has gone into it in the previous number of years. That has led us to the stage where we are now building far more social houses than for a long, long time. And that will have an impact. But it does take time. Housing for all is over a year old. In relation, just make one final point in relation to that. And you mentioned your own constituency. I mean, for your own reasons, you decided to oppose a proposal in Clonliffe. I think there was over a thousand homes to be provided in that particular planning application. Now, you may have a good reason. Everybody can find good reason. I acknowledge that. But equally, if we are all possessed of the urgency of it now today, and the crisis that housing is, do we really have the luxury to oppose projects of this kind? Because I think we have to get to 35,000, I would say. Housing for us is 33. I think we have to get to 35,000 per annum. And collectively, we have to get to 35,000 per annum. And I would just query that. But on the eviction decision, if we can get this through the house, it can take effect from the beginning of November. And again, we are in extremis in terms of the situation in relation to the war in Ukraine. The fact that over 50,000 now Ukrainians have come into the country. We will have far more accessing the IPAS scheme. And then we have the emergency housing situation as well. So, we are in very, very unprecedented circumstances. And in that context, the decision of the government this morning in relation to the eviction ban, I think, is positive and necessary. So, there is absolutely no disputing that the housing crisis is the single biggest social issue, social crisis that we face. It is also true to say that it is the single biggest failure of this government and its predecessors. And the alternative, of course, to being evicted is not being evicted. The alternative to being homeless is to having a roof over your head. And they are the only alternatives at this stage, Taoiseach, I believe that you and your government need to understand. You have moved on this matter of a ban on evictions. You say that you will bring it forward with all due haste. Can I say we are anxious to assist you in that. Can I suggest that we get this work done this week? Let's get this done this week. Publish the legislation. Work with the opposition. Work with us constructively. And let's get this done this week. Because families, as we speak and as we meet here, are desperate, are terrified at the prospect of losing their rented home. And we have a duty to protect those families. So let's do that as a collective effort. And Taoiseach, will you agree with me? Let's get that work done this week. Let's do it this week. No more delay. Thank you. First of all, I would make the point that since July, Minister O'Brien gave authority to the local authorities to purchase houses where a tenant in situ, be it raz or hap, was on the cusp of being evicted. And since that measure was introduced, over close to 650 houses have been bought or in the process of being bought by local authorities. That's a significant intervention. Every mechanism that the Minister could use to avoid homelessness has been used. And that needs to be said. And that has happened. And he has given the freedom of manoeuvre to the local authorities to do that, to buy those houses. Up to 650 have been bought or in the process of being bought. In addition to the wide range of supports that are provided also in the bid to prevent evictions. And in respect of the legislation that the Minister will be introducing. This is Tuesday. I would respectfully suggest if we had brought something in right now and said we are going to ram through by Wednesday, all of you would be opposing it and saying this is shocking. And you would. You would condemn it as guillotine and all the rest of it. Absolutely. But anyway, November the 1st is the date that the Minister is targeting. I take your offer and the legislation will be published and we will work with you to get it through as quickly as possible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.