Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18 ============================================================ Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP), Dún Laoghaire I corroborate the call to act on behalf of the Oireachtas TV workers. This issue has been raised with the Government on several occasions. It is shameful that the workers are laid off during the summer and at Christmas, particularly when they are responsible for broadcasting the proceedings in these Chambers. Christmas should be a happy time. For many, it will be a happy and joyful time. As has been said, however, it is a time of very serious challenges, hardship or sadness for many. I include in that the 16,766 people living in emergency accommodation, those who are threatened with homelessness or people who find themselves in crisis housing circumstances. In particular, I refer here to the 5,274 children living in emergency accommodation, 50% of whom are spending their second Christmas in a row in such accommodation. A further 25% are spending their third or fourth Christmas in a row in such accommodation. I want to put a human face on this. Saoirse and her children are spending their second Christmas in emergency accommodation. Her son is refusing to stay with her in the accommodation because it is not a home or a proper place to live. Now mother and son are increasingly separated. She has tried to take her life twice because, as she explained to me while bawling crying in front of me, she blames herself for her homelessness plight, which, of course, she is not to blame for. Julianne and her two children, aged 15 and ten, are spending their second Christmas sharing one bedroom. She is sharing a bed with her ten-year-old son and her daughter is refusing to go to school. Julianne is also trying to hold down a job. Caoimhe and her three children, agreed nine, four and one, are in their second period of homelessness. Her nine-year-old, her daughter, who is becoming increasingly isolated from her friends because she cannot have people over, has asked on her Christmas list for a place called home. I could add cases of women who are experiencing domestic violence and who are terrified of their partners but who have nowhere to go because there are no three-bedroom houses available. What is the Government going to do about these people? Some 32% of those who are homeless are homeless because they were evicted from the private rental sector because the Government lifted the eviction ban. Many of the people I have mentioned could have their cases resolved if there were enough three-bedroom houses available. Developers and Government have prioritised one- and two-bedroom units instead of building family homes or buying them, if necessary, to keep children out of homelessness. Policy change could address the misery and hardship many people, particularly children, are suffering. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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