Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

My apologies if the Deputy thought I had not acknowledged the damaging effect of homelessness on a child. Of course I acknowledge it. It is a statement of fact. The Government works constructively with local authorities and others night and day to try to remove children from homelessness.
I wish to make a statistical point, but I do not make it to take away from the seriousness of the issue, because all children must be protected and all people in homelessness need to be supported. The point is that the growth of our population has also had a direct impact on the numbers. That can be seen in the published monthly data. We have to have a serious debate about this. The population of this country has grown by around seven times the EU average at a time when we have an acute supply issue in relation to housing. We have to consider all of these issues.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18