Every political issue is put into perspective by our previous conversation and contributions. Focus Ireland has published its annual report on homelessness and it makes for alarming reading. The report states that rising homelessness in Ireland is not inevitable but rather it is the result of the wrong political decisions and that the crisis will only get worse this winter unless the Government acts now with urgency. The words of Focus Ireland founder, Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, capture the heartbreaking reality of this crisis. She said:

Over 3,200 children who are homeless do not have the luxury of time. Their childhoods are being stolen as homelessness is causing young people to lose out on the safety... of a permanent home. This situation is unacceptable and must end. Much greater political leadership and commitment is urgently required... if we are to overcome the challenges our society faces in ending homelessness.

For two months in a row we have had record levels of homelessness reported. Within a month or two, unless something drastic changes we will hit and exceed the shameful milestone of an official homelessness figure of 11,000 people.

The human stories behind this figure are ones of real hardship. These include: families living in tents; children growing up in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation and not knowing the security of a place they can call home; and households transported and displaced out of their communities because there are no emergency accommodation places left in their counties. Approximately 60 families from Dublin are in emergency accommodation in Meath and Kildare and there are a further 60 individuals from Dublin in emergency accommodation in Kildare. The Government needs to act now and with real intent. Given the scale of the challenge that exists the budget was deeply disappointing. There is no increase in social housing targets and the insufficient targets that are in place will not be met this year. There was no funding for any new initiative to prevent the dramatic rise in homelessness. Even though the majority of those forced into homelessness are coming from the private rental sector there was no ban on evictions. The truth is that without a significant change of direction in these areas we will see more families pushed into homelessness and into the nightmare of a winter without a secure roof over their heads.

In the last week, the media have reported that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has only started to liaise with the Attorney General about the feasibility of introducing a winter ban on evictions. We saw during the pandemic that the State responded with emergency protections that safeguarded tenants. We already know it is feasible because such an eviction ban was put in place as part of Covid measures. We see that the Scottish Government has already introduced an emergency winter ban on evictions from early September. A similar eviction ban is required here and it has to be accompanied by an increase in the tenant in situ scheme. Instead we hear that deliberations are at an early stage and that the Government has not yet agreed to introduce an eviction ban.

Homelessness is spiralling out of control. It is an emergency and the Government must deliver an emergency response. I urge the Taoiseach to act urgently, change direction and immediately introduce a winter ban on evictions. With better political choices the tide of homelessness and the crisis we are facing can be turned but the Government must start today.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it is one that goes to the heart of the kind of society we are and want to be. The Government is very concerned with the increase in homelessness and it has a comprehensive suite of responses. We need to understand and assess the nature of homelessness in modern Ireland. It is different from what we might have traditionally perceived it to be and it is a changing dynamic all of the time in terms of the presentations on a monthly basis to the emergency accommodation sector, which adds pressure on an ongoing basis.

On the rental protection side, very significant protections have been brought in already to delay any evictions or moving anyone out of homes. We have legislated to increase the notice-to-quit period for tenancies of three years' duration or less, from 28 days to three months. Where there is the risk of a tenant being evicted into homelessness as a result of a landlord selling a home, local authorities have been told by the Minister they can buy those houses to prevent anyone becoming homeless. The resources are there to do that. In addition, the discretionary rate of the housing assistance payment, HAP, has been increased substantially, which will enable tenants to meet any increases in rents. We also have the rent pressure zone caps and so on.

More fundamentally, in terms of the issue the Deputy raised regarding a winter eviction ban, it is not only today or yesterday that these issues are being considered by the Government. We considered that action during the Covid period because of the issues that existed at the time that justified such a winter eviction ban. The Government acted on that. It is just one potential option but it is not the solution. In fact, some of the homeless organisations would accept it is not the solution and, hence, they talk about a temporary winter eviction ban. There are other policy issues that have to be assessed in that context to ensure we have a significant supply into the rental market, which is a concern and a problem in terms of getting more houses back into the market to rent out to people. There has been a steady decline since 2017 in the number of houses that are available for rent. We have to draw conclusions from that in terms of why people are exiting the rental market as small landlords and not maintaining the position of keeping their houses available for rent.

On the social housing front, we will have a record number of social houses built this year. We have to increase that. The target is about 10,000 builds between approved social housing bodies and local authorities on an annual basis. We will get over 8,000 this year, which is an increase, and we want to be consistently above that figure for the next ten years. Every year, we will be doing in and around 10,000 social houses. The Minister acted very quickly in the past two years to bring voids back into use, that is, empty houses that local authorities may have taken time to repair and so on. We all know about that in our different constituencies. The Minister moved very quickly to say we do not want any voids and to give local authorities the resources to bring such houses back into use as quickly as they are vacated for whatever reason. The cost-rental initiative he has undertaken is also proving to be very effective. It took the past 15 to 18 months to get that new scheme up and running and it is proving to be very effective and impactful.

Ultimately, it is about supply. We need to be building more housing and we are doing so.

The Taoiseach said the homelessness issue goes to the heart of the type of society we want to be. What does it say about our society under his Government that homelessness figures are rising month on month and are now reaching what would be the horrendous scandal of a figure of 11,000? These are real people. They are people's sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and neighbours. The Taoiseach indicated the conditions need to be right. What conditions precisely do we need to justify an eviction ban, considering those numbers? He indicated that during the Covid crisis, the conditions were right for an eviction ban. I contend the conditions now are such that it is absolutely essential for an eviction ban to be put in place. Of course an eviction ban is not the solution to the housing crisis. The solution is to build houses. However, in the here and now, I ask the Taoiseach again: will he ensure an eviction ban is put in place as a matter of absolute urgency?

The conditions that existed in the Covid crisis were that we legally restricted people's movements, on public health grounds, to distances of 2 km early on and 5 km in some instances. There was a very clear legal underpinning for any decisions we took, given the restrictions the Government and public health interests put forward. In the context of the current crisis, there are arguments, of course, to do the same. That is the point and the matter is under consideration by the Minister in respect of that aspect of it.

More fundamentally, we need to build more houses. The Government has increased the allocation and we are getting more houses built. This year, we will reach our target-----

Tenants need support now.

------in terms of the overall number of houses built. The reality is that looking at the figures on home completions, commencements, permissions, home purchases, first-time buyers and mortgage draw downs, they are encouraging this year. They give us confidence that the Government's overall 2022 supply target will be met, but we need to go higher than that every other year. That means, and I have said it consistently to everybody in the House, that if we want to reach those targets into the future and we really want to provide the supply that will be needed to reduce homelessness, then we all need to put the shoulder to the wheel and ensure that in every local authority in the country we allow housing projects through and get them through.