One of the reasons whoever is responsible for the scandal of RTÉ overpayments should be ashamed of themselves is because for three or four weeks now it has sucked all the air out of every other issue affecting ordinary people, who often struggle with intense hardship and difficulty in their lives. Before the Dáil finishes for the summer recess at the end of this week, one of the issues that has tragically been overshadowed by what is happening in RTÉ – what is happening in RTÉ is an important issue, do not get me wrong – is the most acute crisis that we continue to face. We now have more families, children and individuals in homelessness in the State than we have ever had on record at 12,441, a number that shamefully includes 3,699 children. Thousands more are facing the possibility of homelessness because of the Government’s decision to lift the eviction ban and its failure to provide public housing, affordable housing or some alternative when someone who has done nothing wrong is evicted. I feel compelled to remind the Government and the media on this last week of the Dáil that these issues need to be addressed and not forgotten as we head into the summer.

The residents of Tathony House were going to come to Leinster House today, but they are so stressed and depressed about their situation that, at the last minute, they could not bring themselves to do so. Their landlord is evicting them on grounds of sale. Despite the tenant in situ policy, he has ignored all contacts from Dublin City Council about the possibility of buying the apartment complex to stop those people being evicted. The Government said that it was going to bring in a first refusal policy to deal with what on the face of it is a landlord who was cruel and inhumane and who does not care about the stress, hardship, fear and terror that the families in Tathony House were suffering.

I have just heard of another case in Swords where people are being evicted from 47 homes, apparently on the grounds that their Part 4 tenancies are over. We are hearing from all over the place of councils finding excuses not to purchase properties where families are facing eviction. The latest reason is the fact that there are management fees in multi-unit complexes.

I ask that the Government, as an emergency measure, reinstates the eviction ban, introduces the first refusal policy as emergency legislation-----

I thank the Deputy, but the time is up.

-----and addresses the anomalies in the tenant in situ scheme to prevent more families being made homeless over the summer.

We had a Cabinet meeting today. I think there were 67 items on the agenda. I can absolutely guarantee the Deputy that more of those items were about housing than about RTÉ and that we as a Government spend a lot more time concerned about the housing crisis than we do about RTÉ, important as that issue is. I am happy to reassure the Deputy of that.

With regard to housing, this morning the Government published its report for the second quarter of 2022 on the progress that has been made to put right the housing crisis in this country, which is deep and affecting people in lots of different ways. The report shows the number of new homes being built has increased, as has the number of commencements. The number of planning permissions has increased by 40% on the first quarter of last year. The pipeline is very strong. Every week, 700 first-time buyers get mortgage approval. This is the highest since records began. The figure of 400 or 500 first-time buyers every week is the highest in 15 years. More social housing is being built than at any time since 1975. We are increasingly confident that we will beat and exceed our housing targets for this year. That is 29,000 new homes, plus student accommodation plus derelict homes being brought back into use. Today we announced new fund of €150 million to enable more local authorities to buy properties, refurbish them for residential purposes, sell them on and use that money to buy other properties. A lot of progress is being made but I do not for a second argue that it is enough or that there is not a lot more we need to do.

The really dark end and the most difficult end of the housing crisis is, of course, homelessness. There are roughly 12,000 people in State-provided emergency accommodation at present. We are helping in lots of different ways. We are ramping up social housing, as I mentioned earlier. We have the homeless housing assistance payment to help people find a place in the private market sector. There is also the tenant in situ scheme, which has approximately 2,000 properties in process to be purchased by the Government from landlords so the people living in those properties can become regular social housing tenants, something I know Deputy Boyd Barrett supports and has advocated many times. It is something that is now happening at scale. I do not know why it cannot be done in Tathony House. I will look into it. It is a potential solution.

We are lifting more people out of homelessness than ever before. That figure is rarely spoken about or published. More people are being lifted out of homelessness by the Government than ever before. Unfortunately, there are many reasons people become homeless. They are not always under the control of the Government. There is family breakdown. Increasingly, there are people from overseas who are not Irish citizens. A total of 40% of those in emergency accommodation are people who are not Irish citizens, many of whom are not even entitled to social housing. It is a much more complicated picture than many would suggest.

In relation to the question on the eviction ban, we do not intend to reinstate it. When it was in place, it did not work. The number of people in emergency accommodation increased nearly every month it was in place. Yes, it has continued to rise since then but still at a similar rate. People argue this but it is 1% or 2% a month. Obviously, we want to see it go the other way but it did not work.

Promises of things in the future are cold comfort to families who are homeless now with their children, in many cases for several years, or those threatened with homelessness immediately. This week a woman who came to my office was bawling crying because she felt she had let down her daughter. She is working, by the way, as are many who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. The problem with what the Taoiseach has just said is that he has no solution for her or her children, or for many others. Last week, I raised the case of a woman who was working for a State agency. She has been in homeless accommodation for four years. She cannot afford the rents out there and she is over the threshold for social housing. There is nothing for her. She is rotting in homeless accommodation.

I support the tenant in situ scheme and I advocated for its establishment. However, there are councils throughout the country that are looking for every excuse not to use it. The latest is because there are management fees. One council will say that management fees are not a problem but another council will say they are a reason not to use it. At the Business Committee I asked that the Government would address these issues before the summer recess. Real individuals, families and children - not statistics - will end up homeless over the summer months if these issues are not addressed as a matter of urgency.

I thank the Deputy. Anybody having to spend a prolonged period in emergency accommodation is unacceptable and undesirable. The vast majority of people who are provided with emergency accommodation by the State are there for less than the year. For very many it is for in and around six or seven months.

Two and a half years and four years.

I have come across plenty of cases of people who were there for prolonged periods of time, such as three years or four years, just like the Deputy, but there is often a more complicated story behind it.

There is no complicated story.

I do not know about the case Deputy has mentioned but there have been plenty of cases in my constituency where people who have been in emergency accommodation for two years or three years have turned down multiple offers of accommodation.

That is not the case.

That might not be the case in the context of the matter the Deputy raised, but it is the case. We should factor it into our statistics-----

Blame the victims.

-----because it is not the case that all those 12,000 people have not been offered permanent accommodation; very many have.

In terms of the options for people who do not qualify for social housing, we have an option. It is cost rental, which is a new form of public housing created by the previous Government and being realised by this Government.

It is a tiny amount.

It is being scaled up every day.