Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-17
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Holly Cairns (SD), Cork South-West

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I thank all of the staff in the Houses and wish them all and Members a very happy Christmas.
The most shameful legacy of this Government is its failure to get to grips with homelessness. Every month, the homeless figures are announced and new records are set. There are now 16,766 people living in emergency accommodation - a staggering amount. Included in this figure are 5,274 children. That is 5,274 children who will spend Christmas in cramped hotel rooms or hubs, 5,274 children who will not get to sit down at their own kitchen table to eat Christmas dinner and 5,274 children whose parents are heartbroken. For many of these children, it will be their second or even third year spending Christmas in emergency accommodation. When Fianna Fáil first entered Government with Fine Gael in 2020, there were 2,653 children living in emergency accommodation. Under the Taoiseach's watch, in just five years the number of children who are homeless has nearly doubled. That is this Government's record. Every month, that record gets worse and worse.
The damage this is doing to thousands of children is immense. One study found that homeless children were more likely to be bullied and twice as likely to require hospitalisation. One clinic treating children in emergency accommodation found that in nearly 30% of cases the child had developmental delays. Increasing numbers of children in emergency accommodation are also presenting with problems associated with malnutrition, including problems like rickets, anaemia, faltering growth, extreme tooth decay and skin conditions. It is even harder for children with additional needs who experience huge trauma from having to live in noisy and cramped conditions.
When the homeless crisis is discussed in this Chamber, the Government adopts the position of a kind of concerned commentator, as if it is helplessly watching this human tragedy unfold. The Government is not some kind of hapless bystander powerless to act. It has the full might of the State at its disposal, it just chooses not to do enough about it. It is the Government's housing policies that have put these children and their families in emergency accommodation and those same housing policies will ensure that more children and families join them. The figures speak for themselves - a 99% increase in homelessness in five years. The Taoiseach mentioned the need for backbone in politics at times. If this is not the time, when is? Will he introduce a temporary no-fault eviction ban to prevent more children ending up homeless over Christmas?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-17