There are now 14,864 people living in emergency homeless accommodation. This includes 4,510 children who are growing up without a home. Almost every month the numbers climb higher, but record levels of homelessness are now so commonplace that these numbers no longer seem to shock. They rarely appear on the front pages of newspapers. This is because the numbers do not tell the stories of the thousands of people whose lives are being damaged and destroyed.

Last night, thanks to some excellent public-service journalism by Katie Hannon, we heard some of those distressing stories. Chloe Coffey is living in homeless hub with her four-year-old son Jackson. Jackson has complex medical needs. He has already had two surgeries and a third is planned to take place in a month. If nothing changes, Jackson will have open heart surgery and will then be discharged back to the hub in question. There are 300 people, including 220 children, living in this hub. It is clearly not a suitable place for a very sick child to live. Why are Chloe and her son trapped there?

Lisa is living in the same hub, Houben House Family Hub, with her four children, who are aged between nine months and seven years. Lisa is extremely concerned about the mental health impacts on her children. Their attendance at school has already been impacted. She is afraid that they will get depressed.

The homeless crisis is a national scandal. Children and families are not just spending short periods in these hubs; some can be there for up to four years. The damage this is doing, especially to children, is enormous and can be lifelong. Instead of improving, the situation is getting worse. Where is the urgency to address this?

Two of the families featured in last night's programme were made homeless when they were evicted from private rental accommodation. We know that this is the biggest cause of homelessness. In the midst of this crisis, however, the Government will not improve security for renters.

Can the Taoiseach explain why a child who is scheduled for open heart surgery is living in a homeless hub? What can he say to the thousands of families in emergency homeless accommodation, some of whom have been there for years? What is the Government doing to address this disaster? Will it bring Ireland into line with other European countries by introducing a ban on no-fault of evictions?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is not acceptable that so many people in our society are in emergency housing accommodation, particularly children. In respect of children or families with significant medical issues, there is recourse to local authorities in the interests of prioritising the housing of such families. I do not know the background to each of the individual cases, and I did not see the programme last evening. In a situation where a child is facing open-heart surgery, there are opportunities for the relevant local authority to prioritise that case. Medical cases are prioritised by local authorities across the country.

The bottom line is that we have to increase supply significantly. Banning no-fault evictions sounds great, but it would ultimately have a negative impact on rental supply and would lead to less supply. One of the challenges we have is to try to get many more people back into the rental market, either in the context of offering short-term lets or alternative forms of letting as opposed to offering secure, long-term rentals to those who are on the housing list. The Government will continue to address this issue in terms of legislation. It has to be addressed.

The supply issue is key, both in terms of the private rental market but also in terms of public and social housing. Without question, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of social houses in the country over the past four years. It has been quite exponential in comparison with anything that has happened since the early 2000s or even before that. There will be a strong and continuing focus on social housing. Since July 2020, approximately 42,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock. In quarter 3 of last year, we saw the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing since 1975. That is the key. We opened a facility in Mallow last week with the Focus Ireland housing association at which housing for 13 families was provided. These are people who came off the housing list. Some of them had been homeless. If we add in acquisitions and leasing, approximately 12,000 social homes were delivered in 2023. There are many more social houses in the pipeline, starting this year and moving into 2025.

We need a consistent number of new builds of approximately 10,000 per annum to deal with the emergency housing and homeless situation to make sure the time that people spend in an emergency home is as short as possible.

I appreciate that the Taoiseach did not see the programme. If he had, he would have seen the family in question applied for medical priority and had been refused. That decision is under appeal. They are in the same situation that thousands of other families with real medical needs who are not able to have their housing needs met and who are not prioritised.

The Taoiseach dismissed a ban no-fault evictions as if it could not work. In fact, such a ban is the norm in most European countries. Not only is it the norm, but these are countries with much larger rental sectors than ours. Those sectors are successful and have lots of supply. They are the subject of good rent regulation and offer good security for renters. Of course, it could be done here.

The Taoiseach referred to increases in social housing numbers. However, there has been a dramatic increase in the level of homelessness over the past few years. I will repeat my question. What specifically is the Government going to do to turn this around? Month after month, the situation is getting worse. We need new action from the Government. Will it ban no-fault evictions? If not, what is it going to do?

We have provided a range of measures in terms of security for renters over the past number of years. The Deputy should acknowledge that. That is not to mention bringing in the tax credit for renters as well, which is an additional help in what is a very difficult situation for renters in the context of cost and prices. The fundamental way to deal with emergency accommodation is to build a consistent level of social housing that can take people off the housing list and out of homelessness.

Says the man who does not build consistent levels of social housing.

That is the key. We are at levels now we have not been at for quite a long time. However, it will take a bit of time for that to have the cumulative impact we want. We will continue what we are doing through new social house builds and leasing and acquisitions. Combined, we will try get to approximately 12,000 units in 2025. This will help, particularly in the context of the housing first tenancies that, for example, many approved housing bodies operate. That is a very effective mechanism to get people out of emergency housing.