Homeless Persons Supports Dail Éireann — 2026-03-04 ============================================================ Thomas Gould (SF), Cork North-Central I have raised previously the fact that there are children in Cork who are homeless and who are being forced to travel across the city because they are in emergency accommodation. They cannot move schools because if they do so, they could have to move emergency accommodation again, or if the family ever finally do get a house, they do not know where it will be. They are being forced to travel long distances, sometimes getting two or three buses to get to school. This is not right. My understanding is that in Dublin there is a Leap card with €150 on it to get children to and from school. It is a support while they are in emergency accommodation. There were children who had a safe, stable home and who did not understand anything about emergency accommodation or its consequences, and then all of a sudden they have to pack up everything they own, take a few toys and probably dump a lot of their stuff because there is nowhere to put it or bring it. Can the Minister of State imagine the traumatising effect that has on children? They can no longer then have sleepovers or have their friends over. Does the Minister of State know why? It is because the whole family is living in one room. They do not live near their local GAA club, soccer club or dance club because they are probably across the city or somewhere else, so they are losing their friends. Added to that is the expense of trying to get to school. These parents are not able to cook, they are getting takeaways, they are spending money and there is no support there either. The children end up not going to school, so they lose their friends in school, they lose their friends in sport and they lose their friends in the community. How does that make a child feel? Can the Minister of State imagine a child's mind trying to understand that? It is so traumatising. I have asked repeatedly for those in emergency accommodation to be accommodated close to their schools and the communities they came from. Not having money should never be a reason for a child to miss school. We are not talking about a huge amount of money here. This happens not only in Dublin but also outside of Dublin. There are people taking much longer journeys in rural areas or areas outside of Dublin city. I know a teacher who has actually given money to parents to ensure that the kids can make it to school. There are unbelievable teachers and other people out there who understand the trauma and the effects of homelessness on children. It should not be up to them, however; it should be up to the Government. What I am asking for is not huge but it would make a huge difference to people in emergency accommodation. I will give the Minister of State an example. I have dealt with a family on the north side of Cork city who were put in emergency accommodation in Cobh, County Cork. A son of theirs was doing his leaving certificate last year. He used to have to get a train and a bus to get to school. That was the time and the distance he was travelling every day to sit his leaving certificate. How was that child able to manage to study for the leaving certificate in one room? There are consequences to that. It is hard enough doing all that and not having the money to get to school. It is just not good enough. This Government is offering no solutions to homelessness. That is why it needs to apply this fund for people, especially children. --- 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/2026-03-04/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-04