This Bill deals with access to social housing support. I am aware the rules outlined in it are already in place in my two local authorities, Galway City Council and Galway County Council. I want to talk about the impact of the housing crisis on the people of Galway. For the majority of people trying to access social housing support in Galway, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible. If you are homeless and present for emergency accommodation, you have to be put on a waiting list because emergency accommodation in Galway is full. It has been this way for years but the Government does nothing to offer additional supports to the local authorities to deal with this crisis. Notices to quit rose dramatically across the State in the first quarter of this year, with over 7,000 notices issued in that time. I have been told by Galway City Council it is dealing with 160 active, valid notices to quit. Many of these notices are due to the properties in question being sold. Local authorities should be able to take advantage of this by acquiring the properties through the tenant in situ scheme, which was a crucial piece of homeless prevention before funding for it was cut. Local authorities should have more flexibility when it comes to acquisitions, not less. This would be especially appropriate in an area like Galway where the communities served by two separate local authorities are very intertwined. Councils should be able to work together to meet the housing need of people facing homelessness. The two Galway councils are also extremely constrained when it comes to housing stock. We have seen commencements in 2025 and 2026 are on track to fall short of commencements in 2024. We need to be increasing these numbers year on year, not decreasing them. There are constraints not only on social housing stock but also on affordable private rented options, so families facing homelessness have no alternative places to rent. This is borne out in consecutive Locked Out reports, published by the Simon Community, which find again and again that there are no affordable private rented units in Galway and surrounding suburbs. It is also borne out in a recent report by a financial website. Its analysis showed Galway is the most unaffordable city in Ireland for renters when comparing average wages with average rents. We often talk about facts, figures and statistics but there are real people behind each and every one of those figures. I want to share some of these stories with the Minister of State. A woman I have met, whose story was published today by RTÉ, has been homeless with her two sons for two years. She initially struggled to access emergency accommodation due to the pressure on homeless services in Galway. She is now living in one room with her sons, and her oldest child is having a really difficult time, like any child in emergency accommodation would. He is now also struggling with night terrors, a condition his mother has advised runs in her family. The boy has been referred to consultants who have signed off on the council's medical form, advising that he needs his own bedroom for his own health and the well-being of his brother. His mother is now struggling to get this medical advice accepted. I have met other individuals who are homeless and have serious health concerns, which mean emergency accommodation is not a suitable option for them. The only other option the council can offer them at this point is either to stay in overcrowded accommodation with friends and families or to self-fund a hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation. If you cannot afford the rents in Galway, you certainly cannot afford a room in a bed and breakfast until suitable housing can be offered. Local authorities have to have more options available to them beyond the one-size-fits-all emergency accommodation, so they can also support those medically vulnerable people.

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