I raise the increasingly desperate plight of many at the sharp end of the housing disaster. I am not just speaking about the 11,000 people we now know are on the homeless list, including many thousands of children. That is bad and shocking enough as a figure, but there are many more living in precarious accommodation, facing eviction and who do not know where they will have to move to.

Last week I raised the plight of residents of a shared house in Rathmines Road in my constituency faced with an eviction notice where a landlord wishes to sell, with no inkling of where they will be able to move to. Today, I raise another group of people in my constituency, a stone's throw from where I live, in the ironically named Liberty Lane off Camden Street. I commend Kitty Holland in The Irish Times on writing of their plight this morning.

I visited Liberty Lane this morning. There is a prefabricated structure that looks like a temporary office block in which 27 people live. These 27 people are being charged between €500 and €600 per month and are sharing three toilets, two showers and one kitchen in a prefab structure that is now being closed down as a fire hazard. They work and study here, and contribute to our economy. They are people from other countries who cannot source appropriate accommodation anywhere in Dublin. This is one example of the sharp end of the housing disaster.

Yesterday the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, revealed that the rental market has shrunk by 43,000 homes in the last five years, with many landlords seeking to exit the market. That gives a clear picture of the acute and desperate crisis facing renters. There is precarious accommodation, in many cases unsuitable or inappropriate. If ours was a functioning housing system, many of those in such precarious accommodation would have been housed in public housing on public land. Instead, we saw four wasted years between 2016 and 2020, where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael squandered prosperity and did not put investment into building the necessary homes.

What can be done now? Yesterday, our colleague, Senator Moynihan, in the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage asked the RTB if it could alert local authorities to renters in receipt of housing assistance payment, HAP, or rental accommodation scheme, RAS, so those individuals could be prioritised for the tenant in situ scheme. In other words, the RTB could assist councils to ensure people are saved from homelessness where there is an eviction. We got in response from the RTB a confirmation that this was not in its power to do and it was a matter for Government to make a change in policy to require it.

I raised this last week and the Taoiseach told me the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage was examining the matter of the tenant in situ scheme and whether the RTB and local authorities can work together to address the issue. Will he give us an update on the issue?

I thank the Deputy for raising what I have said consistently is the most important issue facing us as a society and will be for some time, namely, the provision of adequate housing to deal with a population which is growing significantly and is now over 5 million people. The Government is on track to meet its targets for completions this year as set out in Housing for All and could well exceed them. Supply is ultimately the most effective way to deal with the housing crisis. We need to increase supply on an annual basis of all types of housing, including cost rental, social housing by both approved social housing bodies and local authorities, affordable housing and the private market.

On the issue the Deputy identified from The Irish Times story this morning by Kitty Holland, I commend the planning section of Dublin City Council on taking the necessary enforcement action. That is an enforcement issue. No one should ever be put in such accommodation------

Absolutely.

-----including students coming from abroad. That is an enforcement issue. I commend the council on taking action because it is dangerous. Lives could be lost in a situation like that if proper fire precautions and provisions are ignored and a fire certificate not issued. I was concerned when I read the article. I think the council is pursuing the issue and taking the necessary steps. That can happen at any time but that it happens in the context of a significant housing crisis is reprehensible.

On the broader question, we have the eviction ban in place for the winter. It is significant legislation. About 17 Bills have been passed in relation to housing in the last two and a half years, substantial numbers in terms of rent and rent restrictions, restricting increases in rent to 2% and extending rent pressure zones, RPZs, across the country.

On the in situ issue, the Minister has made it clear to local authorities that they can and should buy houses where somebody risks being made homeless by the sale of that home. About 600, since the Minister contacted them, have so far been purchased or are in the process of being purchased. I spoke to the Minister again this morning about that and he reiterated it. The message is clear to local authorities that they can use resources to buy houses where houses are being sold and tenants could be left homeless. This is an important piece of work.

On social housing, this year we are on target between build, lease and acquisition, hopefully, to provide 10,000 social homes. That would be a high number.

Of course the issue I raised relates to a fire hazard. That is absolutely right and I agree with the Taoiseach on that, but the fact people were living in such circumstances shows the desperation faced by many seeking accommodation who simply cannot find decent accommodation to rent in the city because of the enormous shortfall. It is an indication of the increasing desperation of many families and individuals who cannot find a secure home. That is the problem the Government needs to address. All the legislation the Taoiseach described has not addressed that fundamental crisis and shortage.

Supply is the long-term answer but let us see practical measures from Government on the tenant in situ scheme. Let us see the gap the RTB identified addressed. The Government must ensure the RTB has a direction to communicate to local authorities who is most at risk of homelessness in order that we see joined-up thinking between the RTB and local authorities in keeping people out of eviction when the winter eviction ban ends. Finally, let us see the Labour Party's renters' rights Bill adopted by Government because that would provide greater security and protection to those in the most precarious accommodation at present.

Substantial protections for renters have been put in place under the legislation that I outlined already. In the budget, we gave additional resources through the tax credit for renters which is beneficial. Over half of all new purchases this year were by first-time buyers, which illustrates the importance of the help-to-buy scheme and the first home scheme, which were opposed by many in this House on the Opposition side. Yet, both those schemes have helped significantly in enabling people buy their house for the first time and in terms of affordability. The issue ultimately is to build more homes of all types. The focus must be on more social homes, more affordable homes and more cost rental into the future. That means schemes like the one in Shanganagh. I hope Labour will support the upcoming planning and development foreshore (amendment) Bill which makes amendments in respect of An Bord Pleanála. There will also be an amendment in there to facilitate rapid-build social houses on public land. There will be an emergency provision enabling the Minister to do it and to accelerate the planning. I hope that we will get the support of Deputy Bacik and her party on that.