I do not sit on the housing committee, so this has come like a bolt from the blue for anyone who does not because of the suddenness of these changes. I will give some practical examples because this will cause absolute chaos for councillors and TDs who are at the coalface of dealing with the housing crisis. They are the least of my worries, obviously. I am worried about the people who will be affected. I am really shocked to read just now about all of the bodies that have condemned this legislation and the Minister is simply, yet again, not listening. We stood here during the international protection legislation and raised very similar concerns from human rights organisations about that legislation and this fits very much into that mould. The only thing I can think of is that this is about, as other TDs have suggested, the Minister virtue-signalling to the far right and people who are racist in this country. We have already had the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach linking homelessness with migrants and asylum seekers and now the Minister is sending out a message with this Bill that a lot of the homeless people are actually asylum seekers and that is why we have this crisis. That is the message the Minister is sending out. The Minister is not in any way thinking of the human consequences of this for victims of trafficking and for very vulnerable people. This is also very likely to be contrary to EU law and human rights law, according to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Mercy Law Centre, etc. I can think of a couple of cases that have just come my way during the past couple of weeks. I will not identify the person but they were publicised for being a victim of a horrific assault on the street and they are homeless. They came to my office this week with an interpreter and with somebody else. They are working in this country. They had their refugee status granted. They were kicked out of the IPAS accommodation, which is what happens when you get your refugee status. You are left to fend for yourself and to find homeless accommodation. This person refused an offer of accommodation because they were being asked to share with a stranger. The Minister might actually understand that if you are walking up a street and stranger viciously assaults you, you might then actually have a fear of strangers. Under this legislation, what would happen to this person because they turned down what the Minister considers a viable offer of homeless accommodation? Thankfully, I was able to contact the relevant authorities, explain why and ask if another offer could be made. I can think of the case of another family in terms of this idea that everybody must be a fully fledged person who is entitled to social housing. There is a Palestinian family in my constituency and their elderly parents, with serious health issues, fled the genocide in Gaza. Some of the family were sleeping on the floor so as to be able to take in the parents and look after them. I am sure the Minister would agree that he would do the same for his family and I would do the same for mine. This family then had a fire in their accommodation and had to be moved. Thankfully, they were helped. Where would they stand with the local authority or the housing agency providing that accommodation if they had to get residency status for their parents before they could get help? They could have all been out on the street. The Minister is just not thinking, or maybe he is and he does not care. The other thing is the lack of discretion. I represent a constituency that has a massive amount of diversity and of homelessness. It has been so for about 12 years, long before any refugees or asylum seekers came in large numbers to this country. When I was elected to this House in 2014 during the by-election, housing was the biggest issue. There is no discretion for local authorities. I am sure the Minister is not suggesting that Dublin City Council is the same as Sligo County Council. They just have different demands and needs in terms of the populations and the problems they face. The Minister is taking away all discretion from the likes of Fingal County Council, Dublin City County Council, the other Dublin councils and other cities councils where there will be more people seeking support for homeless accommodation and refugees as well. This will cause havoc. Maybe the people affected do not go to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies. From what I hear anecdotally, they do not. It seems that people who desperately need help tend to come to the parties of the left. It just seems to be that way. The Minister is shaking his head but that is what people tell us, that the Government TDs just do not reply to them and do not get their hands dirty. We are the ones who take it on and that has always been the way in my constituency in any case, from what we can see. They are just not situated in the constituency where they get the votes and where these issues are a problem. This is shocking and follows very much in the vein of the international protection legislation that the Government brought through, ignoring human rights concerns and ignoring practical concerns that TDs are making. It is really shameful stuff in order to garner a few brownie points and tell everybody that refugees are to blame for the housing crisis.
Sentiment score: -0.13
Is the Minister saying the parents should be put in an IPAS centre?
Sentiment score: 0.00
You are unbelievable. You really need to get a grip on yourselves, the way you talk to the Opposition.
Sentiment score: 0.10
You are so sexist as well. It is only women you ever say that to.
Sentiment score: 0.17
Sorry, but I am not going to be polite to you when we have a crisis.
Sentiment score: -0.78
This is a brutal piece of legislation-----
Sentiment score: -0.62
-----so do not expect politeness.
Sentiment score: 0.00