I am sure the Minister of State is aware but we are really only having this debate because of the housing crisis being created by his Government and its policies. Notwithstanding that, there are many consequences of its housing crisis and this is one. It does not affect an awful lot of people but for those it does, the impact on them is absolutely huge. The Minister of State cited all the difficulties, including the operational issues, the technological challenges and his concerns about the lack of standardisation. On 5 February, I raised a question on Questions on Promised Legislation on a matter that was unrelated to this. The Tánaiste, the Minister of State’s boss, took the chance to update me. He said: While I am on my feet, I also want to say the Deputy raised an issue with me before in the House in relation to victims and survivors of domestic abuse, when they are moving from one local authority list to another, and the time they were on the previous list not being recognised. It is an important issue. I acknowledge and thank the Deputy for raising it. On foot of that, the Minister for housing has said he will issue a direction to all local authorities to make sure that issue is rectified. He did not see any of those problems the Minister of State outlined; he just said it would be done and rectified. Those were his words and he is the Minister of State’s boss. I just wonder sometimes when there is confusion like that coming from the Government. Sometimes it seems like people might not acknowledge the work that has gone into a proposal that is being made. It is four or five years since I raised the issue and I raised it in relation to a constituent of mine. I have used various names for her because I will not her name out of fear for what could happen to her. This woman lives in north county Dublin. She was almost murdered by her partner. He served time in prison and the Minister of State will know that people do not go to prison in this State unless they have done something very serious. He nearly killed her and he went to prison. He has done his time; that is how long the housing list is. He is out and he lives in the area where she was originally on the housing list. Nobody explained to her when she fled domestic abuse and a man who was trying to kill her and her kids and she went to north county Dublin. The local authority continued to write to her to check that her circumstances had not changed and she had not somehow fallen out of eligibility. She had not. She has been 14 years on the list and now she is number two on the list for the area where he lives. She has a notice to quit. She is due out of her home on 20 July. Because she is a HAP tenant, she is not covered by that circular. When he Tánaiste told me it would be done and rectified, I told her that. I told her the Tánaiste, the deputy Head of Government, the deputy boss man, said it would be rectified because it is an anomaly. The Minister of State knows that; we all do. It has been created by the housing crisis. Nobody should have to wait the time that people have to wait to be housed in this State. Nobody gets a free house. We know people pay their differential rent. She now finds herself in a situation whereby as a HAP tenant, she might not be covered by that protocol. I just cannot understand that when she spent all those years on the list. She works damn hard in north county Dublin in a job that the Minister of State or I would not fancy doing, but she does it and she has raised her kids in north county Dublin. It is not that she will not move because it is awkward for to get the kids out to school or anything like that; it is that she cannot go back. I have letters, which the Minister has as well because I have sent them to him, from An Garda Síochána saying she cannot go back because that man potentially will still do her, and her children, harm. Her notice to quit expires on 20 July. I am hoping there is something in the piece of paper the Minister of State has that is going to give me some comfort that this woman will be safe. The timed amendment is not often used. It is a facility open to the Government and I understand that sometimes it is necessary. I have brought forward legislation and timed amendments have been moved to them. I get how it works – I have been here and seen it done but I do not see the purpose of it in this instance. The legislation does not say that the HAP passport, as we have called it, or whatever way the Government wants to put it, has to be introduced immediately. It actually provides for time for that. It gives the Minister the power to do it. The Minister of State is right that there are issues around standardisation but there is not a local authority in the State where a person would wait for less than 11 years. The Minister of State might know. People would be lucky if they were housed in some places after 11 years. People are setting up their whole lives because of this. If people move to another place beyond one list because they simply cannot get anywhere else to live, in that time they could have children, get a job, put down roots, join a club and be a really active member of the community along with their kids being active members of the community and then have to move or be faced with a choice of losing all that time. That is time invested. These are not people who do not work. Most of them work very hard but they do not earn the kind of money that means they can buy a house which is the only way they will get that security. They want that security for their family and to be able to raise their kids knowing where they are going to live this time next year. That is not outrageous or unreasonable. There is nothing in the operational and technological issues the Minister of State has outlined or in the concerns he has about standardisation that should prevent this legislation from going to the next Stage. As my colleague said, any issues with the legislation can be outlined on Committee Stage and can be dealt with then. The legislation does not mandate the Government to provide the passport immediately. It gives the Minister the power to do it. I do not understand why any Minister would not want that power unless he or she was not interested in resolving the issue. I am sure that is not the case but the Minister of State can clarify that in his concluding remarks. This is an issue I have raised previously. I was very taken by this individual case and for that reason I have raised it seven times or more in this House. I did go to my constituent on 7 or 8 February after the Tánaiste gave me that commitment and I told her that I thought she would be okay and she would be able to take her time with her and I genuinely hope that she will. The other problem this woman has, through no fault of her own, is that the vast majority of the emergency accommodation is in Dublin city. If people approach staff of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, they cannot necessarily tell them where they are going to be housed because they are dealing with a constant emergency. Without a guarantee for where she is going to be housed, she has a genuine concern about having to leave the place she is in now. She also has a notice to quit. There is no refuge in north county Dublin, in case the Minister of State thinks that might be a solution. There will be one at some point in the future but there is not one now. It would not be appropriate for this woman to go to a refuge in any event because she has somewhere to live now. She is very close to being housed. On the timed amendment, I recognise that in some instances there are genuine issues that have to be worked out but none of those issues prevent this legislation passing here this evening. Any issues with the legislation can, of course, be dealt with on Committee Stage as the Minister of State knows but there is nothing in the legislation that mandates it to happen immediately. The legislation gives the Minister the power to do it. All the issues the Minister of State has identified - the operational issues, the technological challenges and the concerns about the lack of standardisation - the Minister will be empowered then to deal with, and then we can make a real change. The length of time people spend waiting for social housing, which I fear will get longer because the Government keeps missing its targets, which are already too low, is quite scandalous. I am sure the Minister of State will agree with that. Life happens while you are waiting, and that makes it very complicated for people. The Minister of State has acknowledged that victims and survivors of domestic abuse are a separate and discrete category. It is not fair to ask them or any other person to have to choose between waiting 11 or 12 years on a housing list or taking up a job opportunity or an educational opportunity. I think the legislation means that the Government could get working on that very quickly.

Sentiment score: -0.03