Táim ag ceapadh - cé go bhfáiltímid roimh na beartais atá déanta maidir le cúrsaí tithíochta sa bhuiséad - nach léir don Rialtas i ndáiríre cé chomh géar is atá an ghéarchéim atá anseo.

We all welcomed the moves in the budget concerning homelessness and the building of social housing, but I am unsure as to whether the Government understands the scale of the crisis facing us. COPE is mentioned on the front page of this week's Galway Advertiser. I met the organisation last Monday. It dealt with 66 homeless people on one night, comprising 44 adults and 22 children, with 11 more sleeping rough in the city. COPE has spoken of a significant crisis in the private rental market. This morning, only two or three houses are eligible or made available by their landlords for the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, in Galway city. There is also an issue with the availability of social housing. In Galway 4,000 people are on the waiting list.

Last night I listened to a debate in which Fr. McVerry participated. He believes the figure of 10,000 houses over four years, equating to 2,500 houses per year, would barely keep up with the number of people becoming homeless, never mind the number of people on waiting lists. The Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, made a presentation in European Union House this morning that touched on this matter, as well as the issue of families in poverty. There is a looming mortgage crisis, with banks foreclosing on families and private landlords and pushing people out of their homes.

The scale of the homelessness crisis has not yet hit home with the Government. I call for an emergency debate on the matter. I appreciate that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, will introduce his Department's housing proposals, but this matter crosses a number of Departments, including the Department of Social Protection where, as we have been saying, the level of rent supplement has not met the cost of renting in recent years. No rent controls are in place either. A cross-departmental approach is required to address this crisis, something akin to a Government task force. More and more people are sleeping rough, yet I do not get the sense that this is a significant priority for the Government, given that it did not make enough available in this year's budget.

As Senator Sean D. Barrett suggested, instead of just considering this issue in terms of social housing, we should take a broader perspective. Any of the Ministers with responsibility for housing and homelessness in their portfolios should be invited to the House to discuss this matter, perhaps at one of the Seanad consultation committee meetings. As well as inviting other witnesses to discuss the matter in detail, it would be a good use of the Chamber, as the crisis is not being taken on board by the Government.