Homelessness: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel

The Minister of State is very welcome. It has been said here before that we all know people who have found themselves homeless who never in their wildest dreams would have imagined they would be in that situation. In February, as was said, there were 17,300 people homeless, including almost 5,500 children. That does not include people sleeping on couches and in spare rooms with friends or family, which often happens in rural areas. It also does not include rough sleepers.
We know that the biggest cause of homelessness is people being evicted from private rental, and we can see as a direct result of the residential tenancies Bill that 43% of homeless figures are made up of people who have been given notices to quit. Just this week, on the train to Dublin, I was approached by a young mother from Leitrim who works in a Government Department. She has been issued with a notice of termination from a landlord whom she rented from for five years. The week before it was a family who have been in long-term rental through the local authority and the landlord decided to sell. The week before that it was a single woman who successfully maintained a tenancy for 14 years. The week before that it was a single man expressing suicidal ideation because of his homelessness. A friend of mine with children has lived in a tenancy for 14 years. Her children have lived with her and grown up there and they have been served with an eviction notice. An elderly lady living in rural Ireland, down the road in Sligo has been served with a notice from her landlord, whom she still describes as being very decent to her. Homelessness has become normalised. I know the Minister of State is very aware of the following and has been instrumental, and I am very appreciative of that, as are the people in Sligo and Enniscrone. However, for anyone who does not know this, six households of elderly and disabled people got a notice to quit, an eviction notice from our retirement village in Enniscrone. What kind of society have we come to if we are coming to that?
We know that when children are denied a home and physical shelter, it not only affects their development at the time but it can cause developmental regression. As a party, we have been in government, as have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and there does not seem to be a sense of urgency. Senator McCormack spoke about Jonathan Corrie. I remember when he died. We can all remember that, and it was shocking. When Labour left Government in 2016, homelessness was at 6,000 people. It was being treated as an emergency by then Minister, Deputy Kelly. In just ten years, homelessness levels have soared by almost 150%. A construction company is something we have been calling for for a long time, and to go back on the reset clause. That has caused mayhem.
This will never be normal. This has been caused by poor decision making on the part of the Minister of State's party and that of Fine Gael.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15