The families of one in five children in Ireland, which means more than 225,000 children, now live below the breadline. Ours is a relatively wealthy country and yet more than 5,000 children are homeless. Those are 5,000 children in emergency accommodation who are doing their homework on the floors of hotel rooms or family hubs. Far too many are living in overcrowded homes with multiple generations all under one roof. The Minister may not be the Minister for Finance yet, but his party has the housing portfolio and he is the TD for Dublin Bay South. Across the communities that the Minister and I represent, multiple generations and branches of family trees are crammed into one tiny space because of the housing crisis and disaster. At the hardest edge of the crisis are those children in housing insecurity, who are facing the awful prospect of eviction. The thought of that resonates with all of us. Families are in despair. Individuals are in despair.

I talked this morning with my Labour Party colleagues, who are hearing daily, as I am, from people who are becoming increasingly desperate because of the lack of housing. Increasingly, our representatives, and I am sure the Government representatives, are finding they can offer those people nothing because there is no safety net for families, or anyone else, facing eviction.

We learned today that the Minister for housing has written to councils about the tenant in situ scheme, which was the safety net that the Government introduced to keep families in their homes when landlords were choosing to sell up. In March this year, new restrictions from the Government all but eliminated the safety net for far too many people. No new acquisitions were sanctioned across Dublin city or in Cork. Under criticism from the Government's own councillors, the Minister, Deputy Browne, has now issued a letter to local authorities. We hear it states that they can now proceed with more acquisitions up to a value of 30% of their original 2025 budget.

However, those commitments are for 2026, so it seems that the Minister is borrowing into next year, kicking the can down the road and doing nothing for families whose applications under the tenant in situ scheme have already been rejected this year because central government, it seems, has turned off the tap. The numbers involved are rising.

As I have said, our representatives are dealing every day with families facing eviction and families whose applications have been turned down. We are hearing about despair, people who see no future for themselves and people who, horrifically, are even expressing suicidal thoughts because of the lack of hope in this housing disaster. Where are they to go? What are we to offer them? What is the Government to offer them? There is so much the Government could do. It has said that putting hard-pressed families at the centre of the budget will be its priority. If so, let us hear from the Minister on whether he will use the budget to restore the tenant in situ scheme to full functionality. Will he ensure local authorities prioritise housing children, as per our Labour Party Bill, which he had supported previously? Third, will he go further and act to end the eviction of children? We could do that. The Minister could do that. He could prevent evictions of children in homelessness beyond the 5,000 that have already occurred.

I thank Deputy Bacik for her question. Obviously, child poverty is an enormous issue in this country and an enormous one that the Government wishes to respond to. The Deputy will have heard the Taoiseach, and indeed the Tánaiste, say that child poverty will be at the centre of the budget that is forthcoming and will be announced two weeks from now. I can understand why the Deputy wishes me to give information in respect of the budget that is forthcoming in two weeks. I cannot do that. We are just going to have to wait to realise what the content is when it is announced. However, the Deputy can be sure – the Government will be adamant about this – that tackling child poverty is a central aim.

The Deputy talks about the impact the housing crisis is having on children. We are fully aware of that. The Deputy is not the only one aware of the impact it is having on children and families. Although she displays great empathy, I have not heard any practical solutions from her on how we can improve-----

Our motion tomorrow.

Our motion tomorrow.

-----and alleviate the issue in respect of housing.

We have repeatedly stated that the most effective way of getting people off the homelessness and housing lists is to ensure a greater supply of housing in our society, and available housing. Although the Deputy can criticise the Government for the amount, we have stated that this is our commitment. When you look at the figures produced, you can see definite progress in respect of it. Between July 2020 and the end of quarter 1 of 2025, 48,939 social homes were added to the social housing stock. That is a very significant number and cannot be ignored. Also, more than 13,100 homes were brought back into use under the voids programme. The Deputy will know from having been a TD for the city of Dublin that there are too many voids in Dublin, which means houses unused. We need to get them back into operation so families can get back into them. The years 2023 and 2024 saw the delivery of newly built social housing reach levels not seen since the 1970s, with almost 16,000 social homes built over those two years.

We are aware, and I am sure the Deputy is also, that our population is increasing very significantly. The population increased in the 12 months up to April 2024 by 98,000. This is putting huge pressures on the system. We have to recognise that although the Government is making a considerable effort and getting a lot of social housing developed, there will be issues because of the population rise.

The Government is failing abysmally. This is farcical.

Please. It is not Deputy McDonald’s question.

When we add the housing assistance payment and rental accommodation scheme data, we see that 2,712 housing supports were delivered in quarter 1 of 2025. The Deputy also mentioned the tenant in situ scheme. That scheme has worked. It has worked throughout the country. I note there will sometimes be issues in respect of Dublin, but the measure------

Please, Deputies, allow the answer.

-----has been important in the prevention of homelessness since its introduction in 2023. The Government is providing €325 million in 2025 for local authorities to buy second-hand properties.

Of course increasing supply is a huge part of resolving the housing crisis. We will be putting forward constructive, costed proposals in our alternative budget next week, just as we did in our manifesto last year, on how to increase the supply. The reality is that the Government has not met its own targets on house building. The Minister knows that.

On the tenant in situ scheme, of course it was a safety net that was introduced. We all agree it should have been introduced; however, the Government has gutted it, filleted it, so it is simply ineffective. All of us, including the Minister’s own backbenchers, are hearing it.

Our Labour Party motion tomorrow is putting forward practical, constructive ways in which the Government can address the specific issue of child homelessness.

The Minister said he is not going to announce budget proposals now. The Government could, however, take two of the steps we are calling on it to take in the motion we have tabled for tomorrow, which I hope it will support. Those steps do not involve budget proposals and could be taken now. One, will the Government pass our Labour Party Bill to protect families with children from homelessness and, two, will it restore the ban on no-fault evictions where children are involved? That simple measure would be a stopgap for sure, but it would offer struggling, despairing families some immediate safety net and respite.

As I said to Deputy McDonald, when the Labour Party produces its budget proposals, we will take them into account and the Government will give them consideration. I have no doubt that will happen in respect of that matter.

On what the Deputy said about the tenant in situ scheme, she should be aware that on 4 March last, the Government decided on a total of €325 million for second-hand social housing acquisitions this year. That is not a feeble effort; it is a hugely significant amount of money that the Government has made available. The funding allocations approach was a change from the approach in 2023 and 2024, when local authorities were issued with a guide number of acquisitions. The purpose of it is to allow local authorities to negotiate the acquisition costs with vendors and landlords and achieve the best value for money. Each local authority has received its individual allocation. The Deputy will be pleased to hear that Dublin City Council is the highest at €95 million for 2025. Local authorities are being provided with significant amounts of money and the Government wants to see them buying properties.

It has been spent. No new acquisitions.

It has been spent.

The money is gone.