I want to raise the growing issue of homelessness, particularly the growing phenomena of families with children becoming homeless. While the main news reports today are focusing on Irish Water and the so-called free allowance for children, the people I am speaking about may not have a home within which to access that water allowance. I have to say I am horrified by what I am seeing. I have been dealing with housing issues as a public representative for nearly 25 years and I have never seen anything like what I am seeing now. This morning the list of homeless families I am dealing with has gone from 12 to 14. Twelve of those families have children, and among them are two mothers who are at the late stage of pregnancy. This is adding dangerous stress to those individuals, one of whom was reported on during "Morning Ireland" this morning.

The irony is that these mothers would not be allowed home from a maternity hospital because they would not be allowed out to get into a car unless there was a car seat, but nobody is asking them if they have a home to go to. In many cases, they are required to rely on the charity of family and friends, which is very short-term, and that is if they are lucky. All of these families are feeling a sense of disbelief and are stressed out, and every one of them is frightened.

The Taoiseach appointed a Minister with responsibility for children. One of the initiatives for which she took responsibility was putting children first, an initiative I applaud. However, what about the children of the families I have just talked about? What about the families in other areas like Dublin and Cork, which are seeing increasing numbers facing the same fate? The Minister, Deputy Burton's stock reply to parliamentary questions in regard to rent supplement is that it is only supposed to be a short-term solution. This suggests there is actually another solution.

A question, please.

If there is a solution, can the Taoiseach tell me what that is? Does he accept that what I am describing is a crisis? If he does, I ask him to take direct responsibility and ensure that emergency measures of sufficient order to deal with the crisis are put in place immediately. Will he specifically look at the rent caps, which require urgent change, with a view to introducing a more flexible and more nuanced approach? Will he give a commitment that no family who present to a homeless unit in a local authority will be turned away without at least the offer of emergency accommodation?

I do not deny there is a serious problem here.

It is a crisis.

It is not one that grew up overnight and it has been around for quite a number of years.

It is a disaster. Wake up.

The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, was dealing with aspects of the issue this morning. Clearly, it is not a situation that one wants to see, where families, for whatever reason, find themselves having to sleep in cars or having to be boarded in hotels in emergency situations.

Deputy Murphy is very well aware from her experience here that, in the so-called tiger years, we were building 80,000 houses when we needed 10,000 or 12,000. We now need 25,000 houses a year or more, and we are building somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000. How do we rectify this problem?

Build more houses, urgently.

How do we move from a point where we acquire sites, provide funding streams for either local authorities or contractors to build houses, have an income stream coming in to pay for that and allocate people to these houses? During 2014, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and planning, as she has already said, intends to maximise the number of housing for homeless households. It is not satisfactory the way it is, but it is largely within the various social housing mechanisms that have applied for some time that we have to deliver this in the short term. For the first time in quite a number of years, there is a return to direct build of social housing by local authorities. In February 2013, the Government's policy on homelessness was published in which the Government set out its aim to end long-term homelessness by 2016.

It is a fantasy. Dream on.

That emphasises a housing-led approach which is about accessing permanent housing as a primary response to all forms of homelessness. In the past two years, some 1,500 people here in Dublin have moved from the homeless sector to independent living, which is significant but obviously not enough.

The homelessness oversight group was established in 2013 for the purposes of reviewing all of that policy. At its meeting on 25 February this year, the Government approved the establishment of a homelessness policy implementation unit, which is tasked with implementing the homelessness oversight group's first report. That will include the preparation and the publication of a structured, practical plan to make the transition from shelter-led emergency accommodation to a sustainable housing-led response to homelessness to achieve the goal of 2016 for putting an end to this.

In 2014, for example, the national homelessness budget will be maintained at €45 million, which is the same as last year. Investment of over €50 million was also provided through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and similar investment is expected again this year. In addition, the HSE spends €30 million annually providing care supports for the homeless. A high level, three person oversight group was established to review the approach being adopted here. Some of these are people who have considerable experience and they submitted their first report to the Minister on 19 December last year.

I share the Deputy's view that this is a problem that has been building up for quite some time. It is not good enough to have adults and children sleeping in cars or being boarded in hotels. The answer is that we have to provide housing. As the Minister pointed out, with the best will in the world, we have to start with boarded up units, revamp and renovate them and make them available in the short term, and get the system in place for providing direct social housing. However, there is also the fact there is a substantial land bank, particularly in the Dublin area, and there are good contractors willing to provide private housing. The kind we provide, the mix we provide and the scale at which we provide that is where we need to be.

I want to see an end to this, but it will not happen overnight. The Minister of State will obviously look at the question of the rent cap mentioned by the Deputy.

Much of the Taoiseach's response was about what we would describe as traditional homelessness, which is, obviously, a major ongoing issue that needs to be addressed. This is entirely new territory involving families who one would never have expected to become homeless. I read an article by Kitty Holland yesterday which stated that in 2012 the Dublin authorities had spent €455,000 in looking after families that had presented to them. This year they expect to spend €4.5 million on bed and breakfast accommodation, which is an inadequate solution. This does not even make economic sense. Somebody presenting to the sections dealing with the homeless in Kildare and other locations, even with a child, is not necessarily offered a place in bed and breakfast accommodation, a hotel or other accommodation. He or she is told to find his or her family or a friend. What will happen during the summer when big concerts like the Garth Brooks concerts take place and all of these hotel rooms are absorbed? Ironically, there are so many on housing waiting lists that one could fill Croke Park for three nights in a row. I know things are difficult economically and that this is a legacy issue, but does the Government have a bottom line? Surely in 2014 the bottom line is that one will not allow a family with children to present as homeless and sleep in a car? Surely the provision of shelter is one area in which there is a point beyond which one does not allow families and children to fall? Will the Taoiseach give a commitment that the Government will recommence large-scale building? Even if he were to announce building today, not one of the houses would be delivered before the Government finished its term of office. Will the Government buy properties in locations where there is the greatest pressure? It is not just a question of reviewing rent caps. There must be much more flexibility within them. It is not just people in Dublin who are affected; others in other areas also need a review.

There is a combination of things involved. The Deputy refers to returning to large-scale building. There are processes to be followed in that regard in terms of planning permission, site acquisition, site preparation and demolitions, in some cases. As the Minister of State pointed out this morning, for the first time in quite a number of years there has been a return to direct build in the case of social housing. Admittedly, it is not of the scale we would like to see in trying to catch up. NAMA has a very substantial land bank in Dublin and other locations, some of which has been offered for acquisition for direct build. The question of the mix, design and type of houses one should provide arises, as does the question of the rent cap, to which I have referred. The Deputy referred to buying houses. The Minister of State has already pointed out that a couple of hundred houses are being revamped and brought back into commission quickly. It is a contradiction in terms of the kind of city Dublin is. Many regard it as being one of the outstanding cosmopolitan cities in Europe and beyond, yet one finds places boarded up that should not be. Obviously, there are particular reasons this happens. We discussed the matter with the Dublin city manager last week at the Cabinet sub-committee and there is serious intent to try to deal with it in the best way possible. What is the bottom line? The bottom line is the Government's statement to eliminate homelessness by 2016. Obviously, we do not have any time to waste. I thank the Deputy for her question.