My question concerns the number of children in emergency accommodation. In October the number was 3,826 and now we approach Christmas 2019. I had proposed to put this question to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs but it was transferred this afternoon to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government for reply at a later date. It was to be a priority question. I am going to ask the Taoiseach the question instead.

In July 2016, I suggested to the Minister for Children and Family Affairs in a parliamentary question that the spectre of 2,177 children being housed in emergency accommodation was a blight on the nation. With projected figures of 4,026 children in such accommodation by this Christmas, I asked how the Minister would respond to the appalling deterioration in the figures. Of course I am now asking the Taoiseach instead of the Minister, who transferred the question.

When I put a similar question to the Minister in 2016, she replied that the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, which had just been published, had an ambition that within one year we would not be reliant on emergency accommodation to house children and families. She went on to outline the support services that would be put in place to support those children until mid-2017, when they would no longer be in emergency accommodation. The services included access to early years services, education and nutritional needs, Tusla services, and supports for pregnant women. The Minister intended to move towards a sense of normality for those children. It was to be a political priority to avoid lasting damage to these children.

Of course, the fundamental solution to addressing child homelessness is to provide them with a home, not to rely on emergency accommodation. That was to be phased out by mid-2017 but it has worsened. Instead of having 2,177 children homeless, we now have 3,826 and the number is rising. When one considers that children move in and out of homelessness on a frequent basis, the figure is probably far greater than the 3,826 who are affected. This is my question to the Taoiseach: how does he respond to this appalling deterioration in child homelessness figures?

I think it is heartbreaking that so many children are living in emergency accommodation at any time of year, but particularly at this time of year. Even though they may go in and out of it quite quickly, as the Deputy said - perhaps six months or a year in some cases - that is still far too long and there are far too many cases.

I am unsure where the Deputy's projected figures come from. We know that in the most recent monthly figures the number of families who are homeless and the number of children who are homeless fell slightly. I hope that will continue in the coming months. The number of rough sleepers is also down. I recall the week when across the road from here on Molesworth Street John Corrie died in a doorway. At that time there were approximately 168 rough sleepers in Dublin. The most recent figures show that this figure has fallen to approximately 92. Many of these are people who need a great deal of support and it is hard to get them in.

However, it demonstrates some of the progress that has been made. The rough sleeping is now down to its lowest level in approximately five years, but this is certainly a problem that is a real blight on our society, as the Deputy described.

When one talks about the fact that there are 10,000 people living in emergency accommodation, we should not forget that 14,000 people have been brought out of emergency accommodation, have been housed by the Government and are now in secure accommodation, and it is not the same 10,000 all the time. In fact, more people have been taken out of homelessness into secure housing now than are homeless but, unfortunately, people continue to become homeless every day and every week.

Deputy Harty asked how we respond. We respond in two ways. Provided in budget 2020, which the Deputy did not vote for, is €160 million in funding for the charities and agencies that work with us, both to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place - half of people are now prevented from becoming homeless in the first place - but also to help them through emergency accommodation, to run the family hubs and to then get out of emergency accommodation. That is not something the Deputy supported or voted for.

The second way is in stepping up our investment in social housing. Three years ago when this Government came to office, maybe 3,000 or 4,000 were being added to the social housing stock every year. That is up to 10,000 this year. It will be 11,000 next year and 12,000 the year after that. Not in any year this century have more houses been added to the social housing stock than this year. We will do better again next year and better again the year after. However, as the Central Bank pointed out today, we are catching up on a massive deficit. A country, such as Ireland, with our population and demographics should be adding 35,000 houses to its housing stock every year. We are not there yet. We have trebled the amount of supply, up from 7,000 a year three and a half years ago to more than 20,000 now. We will get to 25,000 next year. We will get up to 35,000. If we could do it quicker, if there was a cheque I could sign, a button I could press or a lever I could pull, we would have done it by now.

The Taoiseach is seven or eight years in government.

Our housing market was destroyed. Our construction industry was destroyed.

The Taoiseach has only had seven or eight years in government.

Our banks were bust. Our Government was bust. We had a seven-year period when almost no homes were built in Ireland.

The question was about children.

The Taoiseach was there for seven years.

Two hundred thousand homes should have been built.

Will Deputy Cowen go to the State's bank?

It was their seven years.

No matter what anyone may say, it will take us many years to recover from that.

We shut you up, Barry.

The party is over, boys.

Deputy Barry Cowen is all about the party, is he not?

As I stated at the outset, my question was about children and child homelessness. The Royal College of Physicians has produced a report, The Impact of Homelessness and Inadequate Housing on Children's Health. The reason I was addressing my question to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, not the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government - it was transferred and I have no control over that - was that it was specifically about child homelessness and its impact on their health. It causes serious mental and physical illness to children who are in persistent homelessness. Some 25% are at an increased risk of physical and mental ill-health. There is a higher risk of pre-term pregnancies in women who are pregnant in homeless accommodation. There are higher rates of asthma, respiratory illness and infectious diseases, poor nutrition, and less access to development opportunities, play and recreational and social activities. They are more likely to be bullied. These effects on children's health go way beyond their childhood and go into their adult lives. These children are our future.

The Taoiseach's response failed to address any of the issues I raised. He failed to explain how, in 2017, we were not going to rely on emergency accommodation to house children and yet the figures have almost doubled in the lifetime of this Government.

I think I am correct in saying that when this Government came to office, or certainly when the current Minister came to office, the number of people in emergency accommodation was 8,000. It is now 10,000. That is not quite a doubling but it has got worse - there is no denying that - despite our best efforts.

In terms of what we have been trying to do to alleviate the situation, the most important thing is preventing people becoming homeless in the first place. As I mentioned, because we fund and work with so many charities and NGOs, we are able to prevent half of people becoming homeless in the first place. That is a significant change from where we were a few years ago. We have also invested in the family hubs, precisely because we accept that hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation is inadequate. Whereas family hubs are by no means perfect, they are better.

They give people dignity, their own door, their own cooking facilities, and their own play areas. I have been to visit them and I have seen them for myself. The people who spend time in family hubs get out of them into permanent housing much more quickly than those who self-accommodate. Above and beyond all that, the solution has to be more supply of social housing, so we can take people off the housing list and out of emergency accommodation, more supply of private housing so that people have homes to buy, as most people want to buy their own home, and also more homes for people to rent because lots of people will need to rent at some point in their life. We need to get to the point where we are building approximately 35,000 new homes in Ireland every year, as the Central Bank said. We have trebled housing supply just under the term of this Government of Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance.

The Taoiseach should use the word "children". He should make it real. They are called children.

We need to do more and we will do more.