Without the interruptions of previous speakers.

For the next two weeks, People Before Profit and others will be doing everything to urge people to get out in their many thousands on the streets of Dublin on the Saturday after next for the Raise the Roof housing protest. One of the components of that protest will be people from places such as Tathony House, another multi-unit apartment complex in Rathmines, St. Helen's Court in my own constituency - all places where landlords are threatening or attempting to implement mass evictions on people who have done absolu…

They are not doing it.

They are looking for excuses.

They are using the income thresholds as excuses not to do it.

I have in front of me a litany of complaints from local constituents over bus services in their area. There are horror stories about the failure of buses to turn up at all or on time, in particular Go-Ahead buses. We have had similar complaints at the transport committee, at which Go-Ahead and Dublin Bus appeared today. I put it to the Minister very simply that the reason this is happening is the inability of bus companies to recruit and retain bus workers. That is because the pay and conditions for bus workers are…

Even the WHO has said that being a bus driver is one of the most stressful jobs. I think it is the third most stressful job you can have. With traffic congestion in Dublin and so on, that is made even worse. Competitive tendering is creating a race to the bottom and Go-Ahead Ireland is the worst offender. It haemorrhaged bus drivers over the last year because pay and, particularly, conditions, including lack of work-life balance and long shifts, were so bad. That is also causing problems for Dublin Bus. When Dublin…

I brought to public attention the outrageous case of Patricia and Graham King and their two children, who were sleeping in a tent in Nenagh because they were over the income threshold and therefore not even entitled to emergency accommodation, never mind housing assistance payment, HAP, or social housing. There was subsequently a flurry of publicity – television appearances and so on. That obviously shamed the Government and Tipperary County Council into offering them emergency accommodation, which they moved into …

I am quoting the letter. I have it here. There are no answers.

This year.

It is not what it says in the letter.

While I do not know the exact number - I am not sure whether the Government knows either and if it does not, it should - there are tens of thousands of people on district heating and communal heating systems in multi-unit apartment complexes. They pay three, four and five times the rate of other providers. They have no right to switch to another provider. They are not regulated by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Even people who have not turned on the heat received bills for approximately €400 a month fo…

I start with a reminder that the crimes committed by the State and church against mothers and children were crimes from which we, as a society, must learn. This is not just the case in Ireland but globally. Given the long struggle here involving the victims of the various church and State institutions that persecuted, in particular, women and children and, more specifically, working class women and children, as well as minorities, Travellers, children of mixed race and so on, it is important to see the relevance of…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland is failing to meet its hopelessly inadequate targets to increase the supply of social and affordable housing; — according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the most accurate estimate for households with a housing need may be close to 122,000, when you include those on the waiting list and in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and other housing support payments; — of the 4,1…

It is just unbelievable. We are facing an unprecedented housing, homelessness and accommodation crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have been let down by the Government not providing the most basic thing, namely, a secure, affordable roof over the heads of individuals, families and children. There are 122,000 households on the various housing lists. Almost 11,000 families, including 3,000 children, are in homeless accommodation. Thousands of Ukrainians, who have fled war and conflict and are in desperate situat…

I thank all those who contributed to this discussion. I am not going to get into the war of statistics that these debates often descend into although I am not saying statistics are unimportant. The Minister has to start with acknowledging the truth. When the Government says the number on housing lists has falling it is a misrepresentation of the reality. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office there are actually 122,000 households, if we take waiting lists where people are on HAP, RAS and leasing arrangements,…

Will the Government admit the truth about those who need housing support and raise the thresholds to ensure they are entitled to that support?

There has been a lot of criticism about the state of O'Connell Street. It is a complex problem but it is mostly emblematic of a failure of Government policy on multiple fronts. I want to make a very simple point when people give out about activities that are going on on O'Connell Street. There used to be three supervised public toilets in the O'Connell Street vicinity. Now there is none. Particularly for people who are homeless, as a result of another failure of the State, there is nowhere to go to the bathroom. It…

A few supervised public toilets would be good, though.

Not if they are supervised.