Tomorrow will mark another dark day when the latest homeless figures are published. The figure will be over 15,000. This is the population of a town the size of Tullamore. There were 4,775 children homeless in the most recent figures, each an individual tragedy. "The impact of homelessness and unstable living conditions on children is catastrophic" were the words of the Ombudsman for Children on Tuesday at the housing committee. Let us go back just five years to May 2020 and there were 2,787 children homeless. In f…

While the measures that the Government announced last week relating to security of tenure are welcome, they were undermined completely by allowing landlords to reset rents to market rate. The Housing Commission was clear that social and affordable housing should form 20% of our housing stock. It currently forms less than 10% of all housing stock. If the Tánaiste has huge respect for the Ombudsman for Children, as he said he has, I hope he will heed what he said and come forward with a bespoke plan to deal with chil…

I thank the Independent Technical Group and Deputy Fitzmaurice for bringing forward this motion. We are six months into this new Government. There is no sight of the new housing plan until September. There are no new housing targets for local authorities. We expect that on Friday we will have record homelessness. There are no rural planning guidelines. They were apparently with the Attorney General since last summer and the average price of a second-hand home is now €600,000. I want to raise the PPP withdrawal beca…

I wish to ask about cancer services with specific reference to the NDP review that will be published in July and to make the case for a dedicated funding stream within that for cancer services. I wish to also ask about UHL and especially the cancer care outcomes. UHL has the worst outcomes in the January 2025 NCRI report. This is extremely concerning. There is no PET scanner, which means lung cancer patients are suffering delays of four to six weeks and have to travel for these scans. There is a plan to deliver one…

Eight years ago.

Both of us are united in our concern about the volatility of the situation in Limerick as it pertains to serious crime and the absence of an adequate and visible policing presence to tackle this. Limerick is a wonderful place and a city that has come far since the dark days of 20 years ago, yet the lack of an active and visible policing presence has become a defining feature of our city. In a recent reply to a parliamentary question, it was revealed that of the 120 gardaí who attested from Templemore this month, on…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. First, regarding the LCSP, I sat on the joint policing committee. The joint policing committee has not sat since I was a member of it, which was in May 2024. It is simply not acceptable. What I am looking for is a commitment that the Minister of State will take up the substance of the issues I raised with the Commissioner. We need at least ten additional gardaí. It is not me saying that; it is the chief superintendent. When the Minister of State talks about not being abl…

They still have not started.

I raise the issue of policing, in particular in Limerick city. Recently, we have unfortunately had an escalation of violence in the Ballinacurra Weston area and a deterioration of the situation in King's Island following the very successful operations Capóg and Feabhsaigh. The continued refusal of a sanction for overtime, especially in King's Island, means the situation is getting worse. Last week, unfortunately, we had a situation in the city centre where a prominent employer was assaulted, causing him to take ref…

-----and the approval of an application for CCTV that has been sent to the Department of justice.

The way this entire issue has been approached by the Government has been nothing short of shambolic. A series of measures were leaked to the media and subsequently announced. A press conference was going on while we were in the Dáil on Tuesday of last week. What the Minister said at that press conference was different from what was in his press release, which was different again from what the Taoiseach had to say. Then we had the series of measures that were announced again this week in much haste and that were bro…

I am quite personally aggrieved and insulted that in his contribution the Minister compared me and the Labour Party to the far right. I certainly try to avoid making personal charges against individuals. I certainly do not go around the place whipping up hate. As a proud anti-racist, I genuinely urge the Minister to withdraw the remark. Amendment No. 2 is in my name and its purpose is to provide for no rent increase in rent pressure zones for the relevant period specified in section 2(b) of the proposed Bill. I am …

I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, to delete line 22 and substitute the following: “December 2025”, and (c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (6): “(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, rent payable under the tenancy of a dwelling shall not be increased during the relevant period.”.”.

I support the amendment. This is something we have called for since my colleague Deputy Bacik introduced her renters' rights Bill in 2021. The provision of a three-year rent freeze is contained within that Bill. We believe that a three-year rent freeze is prudent and necessary in order to create space, particularly in view of how much rents have risen in the past decade.

The response of the Government to tonight's cross-party motion is extremely disappointing. The Labour Party has produced volumes of legislation on housing in the last couple of years, including, but not limited to the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill 2017, the renters' rights Bill and a Bill to give effect to the recommendations of the Kenny report to cap the cost of development land. Einstein's definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The fact of the matter…

Where is the protection?

While the Government says today that the measures announced aim to improve the circumstances of renters, in reality it will make life more difficult for many renters across the country who are not covered by the provisions, such as renters who voluntarily leave tenancies, renters who are near the end of the six-year expiry date or will come to that in 2032, students and those who will rent new-build apartments. This announcement aims to do two competing things, neither of which it will achieve properly, namely, pro…

Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Sinn Féin as ucht an rúin seo a thabhairt faoi bhráid na Dála anocht. The Labour Party has long campaigned against the scourge of vacancy and dereliction in our communities. Vacant local authority homes are the low-hanging fruit of the housing crisis and constitute State-sponsored dereliction. The undisputed fact is that local authorities do not receive adequate funding from the Department to deal with this. They get on average €11,000 per unit when it costs …

I raise the disappointing news of 300 job losses in Limerick with the closure of Carelon. It is extremely disappointing given that the company was established less than four years ago. It is clearly profitable. It made profits of approximately €400 million over two years. What level of engagement has the Government had with the parent company and, in particular, the CEO, Ms Gail Boudreaux, given this development was flagged over two months ago? I am concerned that there could be negative implications for the parent…

Hear, hear.