This evening I urged the Dáil to pass Sinn Féin’s Bill on the Housing Crisis which has escalated into a national emergency resulting from years of underinvestment in social housing builds. I called on the government to acknowledge that the only way to fully address this crisis is to immediately commence a major social house building programme.

This government’s quick fix, flash the cash strategy will not work this time. The temporary provision of 260 extra beds last Christmas in response to the death of Jonathan Corrie on Molesworth Street, Dublin was a wasted opportunity to take decisive action. Once the headlines had passed and the government thought its obligation fulfilled, the number of people sleeping rough on the streets doubled.

Only last week, we witnessed the tragic death of another person sleeping rough on our streets. We must not allow these deaths to become the backdrop to the conversation on homelessness. There can be no more deaths of people like Alan Murphy and Jonathan Corrie; there can be nothing other than outrage and action in the face of such tragedy in modern Ireland.

The many charitable organisations, community groups, and housing agencies are to be commended for the work they are doing to assist people who are homeless or living in housing distress throughout the State, but they must not be left to shoulder the burden any longer. The government must act now to provide emergency accommodation in the short term and a major social house building programme in the long term.