Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 January 2016
4. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs how he and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, are protecting the welfare of children sleeping in emergency homeless accommodation; and the care and in-reach plans being put in place for children who are in emergency accommodation. [3397/16]
View answerThis question follows on from the previous one and asks the Minister how he and the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, are protecting the welfare of children who are sleeping in emergency homeless accommodation. What plans have they put in place to support these children and families, and will the Minister update the House on the matter?
I am keenly aware that homelessness is very disruptive to normal family life, and it is a major issue that the Government is tackling. Homelessness can have such a negative impact on children's education and welfare as they move from one accommodation to another while still trying to attend the same school and maintain relationships with their friends. It impacts not just on their welfare and education, but also on their sense of security. For the children and their families who find themselves in emergency accommodation, the primary need is for a family home, and responsibility for this lies with local authorities and my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly.
Children in emergency homeless accommodation are in the care of their parent or parents, and a key role of the primary carer is that of protection. If there is a specific child protection concern, it should be reported immediately to Tusla for appropriate response. Tusla provides family support and works with relevant services to maximise the supports available to children and families who are homeless. Where underlying problems are identified, for example mental health issues, it can refer the family to the appropriate services.
Homelessness as part of a family group is not of itself a basis for seeking to receive a child into care. However, where there is a specific child protection concern, Tusla can investigate and take the child into care if necessary and only if it is in the best interests of the child. The primary purpose of the Child and Family Agency is to support families, and the best place for a child is in a home with a family.
Tusla is very much aware of general welfare issues for families and has engaged in multi-agency working on this issue. A homelessness liaison officer has recently been appointed to lead Tusla's engagement with the homeless services, particularly regarding the overall welfare and protection of children.
The Minister is right in one thing: the best place for a child is in his or her home, but it is a damning indictment on his Government that 1,600 children are not residing in their homes; they are residing in emergency accommodation, and that is because of policies that this Government has pursued. I was truly shocked by the Minister's reply to a parliamentary question I submitted where he clearly abdicated his responsibility for what his Department was doing to support people and children who are living in emergency accommodation. It is not right to say that Tusla is just about taking children into care. Tusla is a new agency that was set up to support families, and we need to support these families who are living in emergency accommodation. I am not the only one to say this: we know that the Government's response to the homelessness crisis has been questioned by two international UN committees, most recently the one on the rights of the child, which the Minister himself attended. We talked about the rights of the child and on voting to enshrine the rights of our children in our Constitution three years ago. Surely the most basic, fundamental right is that of children to have a home.
I do not know whether the Deputy heard what I said only two minutes ago. I never intimated for a moment that the function of the Child and Family Agency was anything other than to support families and children and keep children with their families, and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous. Most like-minded people would support the view that the best place for a child is with his or her family, as long as there are not serious child protection issues.
Correct.
Regarding the homelessness issue, I do not want to have a political row with Deputy Troy on what may be our last oral parliamentary question session-----
The Minister would never do that.
-----but the reality is that for him to pretend that this problem has only recently arisen and that it has nothing to do with the disastrous housing policy of the last Government clearly flies in the face of all logic and reason.
Here we go again.
We accept that this is a major problem and that it has got worse. Child poverty is a priority for the Government to address and, like many things, it takes time to address. We all know, ultimately, that the relief and resolution of this problem lies in increasing supply and not building houses where nobody wants to live.
I remind the Minister that in 2013 a total of 20 families were becoming homeless in Dublin every month. In the last few months that has tripled to more than 60 families becoming homeless every month. Maybe I was living in a different universe, but I believe this Government was in power in 2013, and it certainly was in power in the last few months. I remind the Minister that in the four years of the last Government's term of office, over 13,000 social houses were built by the local authorities. In the four years this Government has been in power, 1,250 social houses have been built, so that is this Government's legacy regarding the social housing building programme, and as a consequence of that legacy we now have the highest ever number of people on our social housing lists: 130,000. Because of this, the bank veto and the fact that people are losing their homes because the banks are taking them now, we have 1,600 children living in emergency accommodation.
Hear, hear.
I do not believe the Government is giving this issue the priority it deserves. We saw the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, last night out canvassing in his home town of Tipperary-----
With John Delaney, getting tickets for the match.
-----when there was an important debate in this House on supporting families who are homeless, and in particular the 1,600 children who are homeless today.
It is interesting that the Deputy should mention 2013 because he will remember that we were still in a bailout then and were at the mercy of others, thanks to his party's actions-----
Lack of actions.
-----and lack of action-----
The banking inquiry report did not say that.
The Minister must not have read the banking inquiry report.
He will have to go back and read it again.
Read the banking inquiry report, Minister.
If the Minister wants a row, he will get a row.
The Deputy will obviously pretend that houses can be produced without any resources because it suits his argument. He will pretend that houses can be produced overnight.
That is right.
He will ignore the fact that the reason the country is blighted with ghost estates is because of his party's policies, which encouraged developers to build in places nobody wanted to live-----
This Government would have made it worse.
-----and to build on floodplains where nobody will be able to live-----
There was no building on floodplains-----
I say to look to the positive-----
It is the Minister's party that has been in power on the local authorities for the last ten years.
Yes-----
Yes, in Kildare.
His party failed miserably in its housing policy for 15 years.
No, we did not.
He should be ashamed of himself. His party's policies were illiterate.
Can we get back to Question Time?
Not alone that-----
The facts speak for themselves, Deputy.
After 15 years of legislating Deputy Troy boasts about the amount of housing his party had built. His party had a quarter of the required housing built.
The Deputy had his chance to contribute.
Could I please have a chance to respond, a Cheann Comhairle?
No, we are over time.
Deputy Durkan started the row.
But I did not get an opportunity because they were shouting-----
I am not here for political statements. I am here to hear Question Time.
I am here to answer the question-----
We are way over time. We are now almost-----
It would be the first time the Minister ever answered the question.
I must speak to the fact that the Government has put aside €3.8 billion in capital for direct social housing building.
Hear, hear.
That is 35,000 units, and there are 75,000 other homes to be supported through local authority initiatives and over 300 projects underway, as we speak, in local authorities around this country to address this issue.
No, there is not.
