Thank you, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue. Despite the economic boom, nearly one third of Irish children live in poverty, which is the second highest rate of child poverty in the EU. There is a need for urgent new measures to deal with child and adult homelessness in Dublin. The Government should hang its head in shame at the obscene spectacle of 12 year old children being turned away from hostels throughout the capital city while we give out the available largesse to those who are already well off. The plight of homeless children has been ignored in the budget. Every hostel in Dublin is full and children and adults have been turned away and have to sleep rough. At least 30 children have difficulty being placed and there are 160 people, perhaps more, sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin every night, a large number of whom have drug related problems, mental health needs and a range of social and family problems which have led to their being homeless.
This week a survey was conducted in my constituency by Merchant's Quay Project. It was found that of those sleeping rough, 40 per cent are young women, many of whom are drug addicts. Specific services are needed urgently to deal with the younger age group. The statistics are alarming and the number of homeless 18 year olds in Dublin, as shown by Focus Ireland, has increased from 352 in 1994, to 599 in 1995 and to 824 in 1996. It is clear that if the Government was committed to a just society it would have invested a large sum of money in this problem. A major one off injection of money should have been provided for the whole area of homelessness to break the cycle before we end up with the social problems that are rampant in major British and European cities.
I acknowledge the homeless initiative which is under way but it is not enough. We have to provide a statutory backup and further funding and support to enable the many groups working with the homeless to provide a range of services to people living in hostels who need to move on to their own homes, flats and jobs and need counselling to help them. The only way these organisations will be able to give that support to the homeless is if they receive ongoing funding. It is uncomfortable and upsetting to walk the streets of Dublin and to see 12 year olds, 18 year olds and older men and women sleeping in doorways. It is clear this is a two nation society with a drift towards social exclusion which was made all the wider by last week's budget.
It was reckless of the Government to introduce such a payback budget given that there are 3,000 people homeless in our capital city without one single initiative to tackle this problem. Hostels around the city are chock-a-block with up to 800 homeless people. These hostels have become culs-de-sac instead of emergency safety nets. There is no provision for a range of voluntary services to take people from these hostels into other options I have outlined, including housing, employment and, ultimately, settlement.
It is the 12 year olds who will sleep rough on the streets tonight who in their silent miserable way condemn the Government and the budget for having ignored this major issue of homelessness. We need to take action urgently to break the cycle these children are getting into and a major initiative is needed.
