10 December 2003
Dr. Henry: There is a crisis of homelessness in this country. There is a dire need for social housing, but in his budget speech the Minister for Finance did not mention either social housing or homelessness. These are serious issues, but they can be neglected because there is a feeling that there are no votes to be gained from dealing with them. To my sorrow, I find that in some areas in which social housing is to be built, there is a hail of planning objections. I regret that the plans of the former Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, to ensure a social housing component in all new developments were delayed and reversed. It looks as though it will not be as popular as it was previously.
There are some urban myths going around. One is that all single mothers are immediately given houses - as soon as they announce they are pregnant houses are provided for them. I have just talked to somebody who has been on the housing list for nine years and she never sees any sign of obtaining a house. There are many young women in her situation. One of the saddest things about the budget was the serious cuts in the provision of rent allowance to young women who may be about to become single mothers and a large cut in child care and crèche allowances. These are in direct conflict with the recommendations of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, which suggests that the one thing that must be done to prevent women going to England for abortions, something we all want, is to give them material support at the difficult times of their pregnancies and when their babies are just born. There can be major conflicts within the family and frequently, even in this day and age, people feel they must leave home.
We have set up an agency, costing a great deal of money, to promote options other than abortion, yet we totally ignore its suggestions about how this can be done. This is counterproductive and a waste of money. If social housing was built - I am not suggesting it should be given to people free but rented at a reasonable price - it would be a major step forward. This is a grave problem for many women.
Another group I have mentioned several times in the House although, again, there are no votes in this area, is the mentally ill. Senator Kitt mentioned NGOs which work in this area. I would describe them as charities because if charities such as the Salvation Army and the Simon Community did not step in, there would be even more mentally ill people on the streets. This is a serious problem. We must ask ourselves which comes first, the mental illness or the homelessness. If people have a mental illness it will become much worse while they are out on the streets. If they have been discharged into the community, as we all feel is best, from the mental institutions in which people used to be kept on a long-term basis and they do not have some sort of home, it is extremely difficult for the hard-pressed psychiatric carers within the community to keep an eye on them, encourage them to take their medication and so on. All we find is that they become more seriously ill and must be readmitted for acute care, perhaps having to stay in hospital for some time. If it were not for the charities there would be even more people on the streets.
Mr. N. Ahern: The charities receive Government funding.
Dr. Henry: It can be seen that the funding is obviously not enough if one walks up Baggot Street.
The last group I will mention is prisoners. As Members know, we have a very high recidivism rate of almost 90%. How important is it that so many people who are released from prison are not in a position to go back to their families, who have perhaps had enough of them? As we frequently see, theft, especially for those involved in drug abuse, begins in the family home. These people have difficulty finding social housing. There are many groups of vulnerable people in our society which have been badly let down and are still being let down by the Government.
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