TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that a winter eviction ban is “just one potential option, but it’s not the solution” to tackling the homeless crisis in the State.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Martin said that the matter is still under consideration by Government, but that ultimately more houses need to be built to fix the problem.
He was responding to Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy, who called for a winter eviction ban to be put in place this winter.
Carthy referenced the annual report of housing charity Focus Ireland, published today, which states that the Government is not doing enough to tackle the homelessness crisis.
Referring to the record number of homeless people in Ireland recorded last month, Carthy said that “within a month or two, unless something drastic changes, we will hit and exceed the shameful milestone of an official homelessness figure of 11,000 people.”
“Homelessness is spiralling out of control. It is an emergency, Taoiseach and the government must deliver an emergency response.”
The Taoiseach said the Government is “very, very concerned” about the increase in homelessness and that it has a set of comprehensive responses.
He said homelessness in modern Ireland is ”different to what we might have traditionally perceived it to be”.
“It’s a changing dynamic all of the time in terms of the presentations that come on a monthly basis to the emergency accommodation sector, which adds pressure on an ongoing basis.”
The Taoiseach said “very significant protections” have already been brought in to delay any evictions, including legislation to increase the notice to quit period for tenancies of three years duration or less.
He said the Government enacted a temporary winter eviction ban during the Covid-19 pandemic because “the circumstances existed during Covid which justified such a winter eviction ban”, but he said it’s “not the solution”.
“There’s other policy issues that have to be assessed in that context as well to make sure that we’ve had a significant supply into the rental market, which is a concern. Which is a problem in terms of getting more houses back into the rental market, and to rent out to people because there’s been a decline in the number of houses for rent since 2017,” he said.
He added that there has been a steady decline downwards and that the Government “have to draw conclusions from that in terms of why people are exiting the rental market as landlords or small landlords and maintaining the position of people or houses available”.
‘We need to build more houses’
Carthy responded by saying that “of course an eviction ban isn’t the solution to the housing crisis. The solution to the housing crisis is to build houses,” but urged the Taoiseach to implement the ban “as a matter of absolute urgency”.
Martin said the matter is under consideration by the Housing Minister, “but more fundamentally, we need to build more houses”.
He said the Government are getting more houses built and will reach its target in terms of the overall number of houses built this year.
“But we need to go higher than that every other year… If we want to reach those targets into the future, if we really want to give us the supply that will be needed to reduce homelessness, then we need all to really put the shoulder to the wheel and ensure in every local authority in the country we allow housing projects through and we get them through.”
Labour leader Ivana Bacik raised the issue of pay rises among community and voluntary sector care workers.
Labour is set to bring forward a motion tomorrow to call for better pay and conditions for Section 39 staff.
Section 39 organisations have service legal agreements with the HSE to provide health and social care within communities in areas such as home care, dementia and disability services.
Their main salary funding comes from the HSE through a grant, but there have been calls in recent weeks for the Government to extend the terms of the public sector pay deal to include workers in the community sector and Section 39 organisations.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that without their work, many of society’s most vulnerable members would be left disconnected from the community,” Bacik said.
She said many care workers have not had a pay rise since 2008, and said they are among 100,000 HSE staff who have not been paid the Covid-19 bonus payment.
She said their work is “comparable to workers who are directly employed by the State”, but unlike trade union members and the public or private sector, care workers in the voluntary sector “have no way to negotiate your pay increase at present”.
Martin said that Labour’s proposed motion is “very broad”, but he acknowledged that “there is an issue here”.
“The overall point I would make is we’re talking about a vast number of people here. We’re talking about a vast number of organisations, and it’s not as simple as perhaps has been portrayed. But that said, I think Government will enter into a process as happened before in 2019 at the Workplace Relations Commission,” he said.
“We anticipate to get some process to try and sort this out once and for all.”
Creeslough tributes
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach led expressions of sympathy to the community of Creeslough in the Dáil before Leaders’ Questions began.
Ten people died in the tragedy in Creeslough on Friday. They ranged in age from five to 59.
The funerals of two of the victims, Jessica Gallagher (24) and Martin McGill (49), took place at St Michael’s Church in Creeslough today.
TDs from each party paid tribute to the victims of the service station explosion in Co Donegal.
The Taoiseach began the tributes by reading the names of each of the victims.
He said each of them represented “everything good and kind, and beautiful about Creeslough, Donegal and our country”.
“Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, each one an enormous, incalculable loss in the lives of those around them,” he said.
This is a community bereft , a close-knit people in deep sadness and mourning, devastated by what has happened. But it is also a community of great strength and resilience, pulling together to support each other through this terrible time.
He said he met many people over the weekend who shared stories of the “most extraordinary courage, commitment, heroism, and love”.
“Stories of local people putting themselves at risk and doing everything humanly possible to save the lives of their neighbours in the aftermath of the explosion. Of first responders and emergency services from north and south facing scenes that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. But never hesitating for a second to do everything they could.”
Martin also paid tribute to the “true courage and dedication of our emergency services and healthcare staff”.
“We put our arms around the bereaved and the injured. We pledge to support this community now and in the time ahead as it comes to terms with this trauma and we remember those who have died.”
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that Ireland is “a country torn apart by grief, but we’re also a community joining together to help those worst affected and to do what we can to support each other”.
He said the Government will put the “full resources of the State behind the efforts to rebuild a broken community, to heal the many emotional and physical wounds”.
“That requires our help in the medium and long term as well, because the deepest wounds are invisible, and they can last for a lifetime,” he said.
Matt Carthy said there are no words that could properly express the heartbreak, pain and sorrow felt by so many.
“10 precious lives gone. A small community devastated. But shock from this small village was felt across Ireland and beyond,” he said.
Carthy said the response of the community in Creeslough “has been immense”.
“Minutes after the explosion, people came to help clear a path and secure the building so that firefighters could get access. They did this without any thought to their own safety.
Local nurses stayed on the scene all night helping where they could. Neighbours opened their doors to locals and strangers alike, and small businesses went well beyond the call of duty to support all those who came to help.
Ivana Bacik expressed her “deepest sympathies” to those who lost loved ones in Creeslough and paid tribute to the “courage and bravery” shown by the emergency services and all who helped in the rescue effort.
She listed those who lost their lives, and said that everyone was “heartbroken by the loss of life caused by this awful tragedy”.
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