Government ‘throwing the kitchen sink' at fixing homelessness crisis
Christopher O'Sullivan TD said that it has been a really 'difficult challenge to tackle', but that it is a priority for the Housing Minister.
His comments come as the latest figures released on Friday show homelessness has reached another record high. Christopher O'Sullivan. Pic: Fianna Fáil
Some 15,747 people are now in emergency accommodation during the last week of May, including 4,844 children.
Last week, Children's Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon said that the government's housing initiatives consistently fail children.
Mr O'Sullivan told RTÉ's The Week In Politics programme: 'The figures at the moment, they're not acceptable, and I don't think anyone is saying for one second that they are.
'The Government is acutely aware that there is a housing crisis, and there is a significant issue with homelessness, which we're trying to tackle.
'Obviously, we're particularly struck by the words of the Children's Ombudsman… This is a really, a really difficult challenge to tackle.
'That's been proven over the last number of years, and we have thrown the kitchen sink [at] it, but I will say this, there's no doubt that it's a priority for the Taoiseach, it's a priority for this Government. Housing Minister James Browne. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
'Working with [Housing Minister] James Browne, I'm in the Department of Housing as Minister of State, I know that this is a priority for him.
'These stories, these, I suppose, testimonies I know motivate him. They motivate him to make change. They motivate him to make a difference on homelessness.
'That is why the very first piece of legislation that Minister James Browne introduced in the House was around preventing homelessness.'
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, who has backed a redress scheme for children living in emergency accommodation, said there is too much reliance on the private model.
He remarked: 'We need to have the State getting back and building in a massive, significant way.'
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