On Friday we learned that homelessness figures have risen yet again to almost 12,000 people, which represents a 2.1% increase month on month. These figures relate to the period just before the lifting of the eviction ban took effect. I shudder to think what the figure for next month will be, as the evictions allowed to proceed by the Government come into force.

These figures show that the Government is divorced from reality, detached from reality. In light of consistently rising homelessness figures - rising yet again last month - the Government made the indefensible decision to lift the temporary no-fault eviction ban. By doing so, it chose to pull the rug out from under families and individuals who are facing homelessness. It fails to understand that each of these numbers also represents a life - the life of a child living in uncertainty, a parent trying to keep a brave face or an elderly person living in fear. These new figures do not even begin to capture those in hidden homelessness, those who are couch surfing, adult young people living on in childhood bedrooms and the thousands who are emigrating for lack of affordable housing.

Having one family in homelessness is one family too many. It is even more so the case when we know how inappropriate emergency housing and hotel stays are beyond a couple of nights. Week in and week out, children are getting ready for school in hotel bedrooms and students are preparing for junior cert and leaving cert State exams, not knowing what home they will be going back to. They are being failed by the Government, and that is a national tragedy.

The Government could have used the period of the eviction ban as the breathing space to allow for the introduction of emergency housing measures, which would have provided support to families then facing eviction. However, the Government instead saw it only as an opportunity to kick the can down the road. Days before the ban was due to be lifted - and even in the days immediately following its lifting - there were no concrete plans in place to support the thousands facing eviction and about to become homeless as the ban was lifted. The Government’s mini budget, announced last week, was a desperate attempt to mitigate a crisis for which it has no one to blame but itself. These 11,988 people in homelessness deserve far more than what the coalition of convenience has offered.

They have been left behind, out in the cold, while the Government's mini budget simply puts more money in the pockets of private developers.

We in the Labour Party have consistently advocated for State-led, local authority-led, approved housing body-led solutions to the housing crisis but we have yet to see our constructive proposals taken on board. Instead, the Government has retained a failed private developer-led model and it has failed to live up to the hype it has created around housing. Its shocking failure to control the controllables is a disgrace. Will the Taoiseach reinstate the eviction ban? Will it adopt the Labour Party's constructive proposals to begin the pathway for families and individuals to safe, secure and affordable housing? Will the Government take on board the measures we are proposing to do that?

I thank the Deputy. As I have often said before in this House, homelessness is a stain on our society. As a Government, we are honour-bound and duty-bound to do everything we can to reduce the number of people who are required to stay in State-provided emergency accommodation over the next months and years. We had a period when we were able to bring it down by 30% to 40%, but it has gone back up again. We are going to take the action that is necessary - it has to be action that is effective - to bring those numbers down again.

As the Deputy has pointed out in her remarks, the temporary winter eviction ban has ended. For five out of the six months in which it was in place, the number of people in emergency accommodation rose. Unfortunately, it did not bring down homelessness, which continued to increase while the eviction ban was in place. That points to the fact that there are many other factors at play when it comes to homelessness and the number of people who are in emergency accommodation. These factors include family breakdown, which is one of the biggest causes of homelessness, and of course the spill-over effects from migration.

We have seen a further fall in the number of people sleeping rough on our streets. That, at least, is a positive thing. There are fewer than 100 people sleeping on the streets of Ireland at night. When this figure is studied, it is found that one third or 40% of those had accommodation but did not take it up for various reasons. Such reasons can be complex.

On solutions, I say to the Deputy that we are not as far apart as she may think or may wish to think. Many of the things she proposes, with the exception of the temporary eviction ban, are things we are doing. We are investing in social housing. More social housing was built in this State last year than in any year since 1975 and we will build even more this year. It is probable that one in three homes built and provided in Ireland is in some way provided by the State or its agents. That is not a small proportion. Approximately one third of the 30,000 new homes are being built in some way with the help of the State through local authorities, approved housing bodies, leasing, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and all of the different mechanisms we use.

We are also tooling up and ramping up the tenant in situ scheme. When a landlord is selling on, as they sometimes need to do for various reasons, the local authority can come in and buy the house. Approximately 1,000 of these purchases are being transacted at the moment, which is significant. We have said to the local authorities that the resources are there and they are willing to put in more funding if needed. We are tooling up the LDA to expand its affordable housing and cost-rental programmes to help those who do not qualify for social housing but still cannot afford to buy or rent a home of their own.

I agree with the Taoiseach. I think he is right. Of course homelessness is a stain on our society. It is shameful that we have nearly 12,000 people in homelessness at a time when the country is running very significant budget surpluses, with a surplus of over €5 billion last year. I disagree with him, however, on the eviction ban. We have heard from all of those working with people who are homeless that the homelessness figures would have been much worse had it not been for the existence of the temporary ban. It should not have been lifted when it was, in the absence of measures to support families and households facing homelessness.

We in the Labour Party have supported Government measures when they have been effective to prevent homelessness and to increase housing stock - of course we have - but the reality is that the Taoiseach's Government has done too little and has failed the families who are now in homelessness. It is also failing the workers. The month of May is a time to celebrate workers and workers' rights. The housing crisis is a workers’ rights issue, as we are hearing from the nurses' union today. We have recruitment and retention challenges across healthcare, construction, hospitality and all other sectors. The housing crisis is a major contributor to that.

Will the Government accept the Labour Party's constructive proposals? I refer, for example, to the National Minimum Wage (Inclusion of Apprentices) Bill 2023, which will be debated tonight in the Seanad. This Bill, which has been introduced by our Seanad Whip, Senator Marie Sherlock, would provide apprentices with higher levels of pay and attract more people to work in construction, thereby helping us to deliver more housing, which is a measure the Taoiseach and his Government want to do.

Here is a constructive proposal from us, a simple measure that could be adopted and accepted by the Government to help alleviate the housing crisis.

The Deputy mentioned the fact that we have a budget surplus, and we do. We also have the biggest budget for housing in the history of the State. If it were a matter of money and budgets, this problem would have been solved a long time ago. There are many other constraints and she rightly pointed out that one of the constraints is the availability of labour and construction staff to do all the work and building we need to do, not just houses, but schools, metros, wind energy and so on.

The Bill the Labour Party has tabled is a positive contribution to this debate. We have asked the Low Pay Commission to examine this and will propose a timed amendment to the Bill to allow proper consideration of the matter by that commission. There is merit in what the Labour Party is putting forward: that paying apprentices better might mean we have more apprentices, which in time will allow us to build our construction capacity. I welcome the party's suggestions in that regard.