Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
9. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the impact of the ending of the eviction ban on the latest homelessness figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33183/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe latest figures show there are 12,441 people in emergency accommodation, including an incredible 3,699 children. That is more people than live in Rush, Portmarnock or Skerries in the Minister’s constituency. When these figures came out, the Minister effectively said to the media that they vindicated the decision to end the eviction ban; however, since the ban ended, the figures have risen month after month and are likely to continue to do so as a consequence of that decision.
That is not what I said but I might get an opportunity to come back on that in supplementaries. The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 was a time-limited intervention which provided for a stay on eviction notices up to 31 March 2023 and deferred tenancy terminations running to 18 June. It was on a phased basis. The purpose of it was to protect renters during that specific period, provide additional protection, allow local authorities the time to bring further emergency accommodation into operation - which we did - and provide the space for more permanent accommodation. Some 6,000 social homes were completed in quarter 4 of last year.
The staggering of the ending of the ban, coupled with new measures aimed at preventing homelessness, appears to have been effective in terms of preventing any drastic increase in entries into homelessness. My Department has been closely monitoring the rate of new entries into homelessness since the scheduled ending of the ban and the rate of increase remains lower than in the period immediately prior to its introduction. That is important to note. For instance, in March 2023, when the moratorium was still fully in effect, there was an increase of 246 individuals in emergency accommodation. It is no consolation to them and I am not playing with figures but the reality is that the June increase was 182. There was a larger increase during the last month of the moratorium than there was last month.
The reason is that we have been able to exit more people into permanent social homes from emergency accommodation as we are building more social homes. I will cover that in more detail in my supplementary response. As I mentioned in a response to a previous question, we had to be careful because any further intervention in the private rental sector would have had the effect of more and more properties being lost in that sector and making the situation worse, which I think most people understand.
That is cold comfort to the 12,441 people who are homeless now. The Minister made the point, which is true, that the staggered nature of the ending of the eviction ban has had an impact. It meant we did not have the tsunami in one fell swoop. That is true, but we in the Opposition never said it would come in one fell swoop. I am not an expert in tsunamis, but I get the impression they build and build, a qualitative point is reached and then they overwhelm people. That is what I am experiencing in terms of people coming into my constituency clinics with eviction notices coming up in the next six or nine months. Almost 5,000 eviction notices were issued in the first quarter of this year. This is going to get worse and worse and the decision to end the eviction ban will be a direct cause. The Minister is ignoring the increase, or the very likely increase, in hidden homeless; increased numbers of people are in cars and couch-surfing and so on.
I assure the Deputy that I am not ignoring anything. I did not get to some of the other measures we have brought in, including the tenant in situ purchase scheme, which we have rolled out and extended since January as a mitigation measure. I have set a target of a minimum of 1,500 homes. This involves converting housing assistance payment, HAP, and rental accommodation scheme, RAS, tenancies to permanent social homes. We will exceed that quite substantially this year and I want to continue it into next year. It is a really good way of securing tenancies and bringing additional homes into social housing use. I remind the Deputy that he did not just seek the extension of the moratorium - he wanted a permanent extension of it, effectively. He should be honest with people about what that would do to the private rented sector in relation to capacity and stock. Would it not see a further flight of homes being sold? It would, as the Deputy knows. These are complex issues. We need a private rental sector, whether Deputy Murphy likes it or not.
We do not.
There indeed is-----
We do not need a private rental sector.
This is not an exchange of views; this is a reply.
Some 60,000 households are supported through HAP tenancies right now in the private rental sector. The Deputy just said to the House that we do not need a private rental sector, which is an astonishing remark. The reality is that we are building more social houses than were built since 1975. We will do still more and will continue to do so. In my supplementary response, I will refer to exits from homelessness as well.
We do not need a private rental sector. It is not true. We need homes for people to live in and affordable rents for them. The landlords the Minister spoke about exiting the market cannot bring the homes with them. They do not strap the apartments to their backs, get on a boat and leave; the properties remain here. They cannot remove them. We simply need the State to step in, in every circumstance in which that happens, to buy the property and convert people into tenants of the State and give them security of tenure and so on. It would be a much better solution for people, as opposed to-----
What criteria would the Deputy apply? No criteria?
No criteria; everybody should be entitled to be a tenant of the State and to a differential rent. The entire and central problem of the whole Government strategy is that it is obsessed with incentivising the private sector. I ask the Minister, how many is too many? What is the target for when there will be zero people in emergency accommodation? His predecessors had targets for ending homelessness - for Joan Burton, it was 2016, and for the Minister, Deputy Coveney, it was July 2016 as well, or possibly 2017. What is the Minister's target for when there will be no people in emergency accommodation?
People enter emergency accommodation for many reasons. Every month, we publish a report on it. They include people who received notices to quit, relationship break-ups and new entries to the State. There are many different reasons for that to be the case. It is important for people to know that anyone who finds themselves homeless will be supported by the State in emergency accommodation. Some 5,478 exits from homelessness were achieved last year. Even in quarter 1 this year, there was a 15% increase in exits from homelessness, exiting people into permanent housing solutions, which is really important. Whether the Deputy likes it or not, the reality right now is that we are building up our public housing stock. There is affordable housing for the first time in a generation and cost-rental for the first time ever. Yes, we have a private rental market. It is not about supporting landlords; it is about supporting the reality of the situation that there is a private rental market. People Before Profit is basically saying we do not need it, so just end it immediately.
We are not saying end it. The Minister knows that is not what we are saying.
The Deputy is living in fantasy land. Homelessness is a very serious situation. I do not wish to belittle it in any way. We are doing everything we can to make sure we can drive those numbers down and exit people into permanent housing solutions.
Before moving on, I wish to bring to the attention of everyone in the House the need to ensure the question is asked clearly and that ample time is given for the reply. Somebody attempting to interrupt and provide a reply to their own question will be disallowed.
