Rough sleepers and civil parentage
Senator Ardagh raised rough sleeping, emergency accommodation, and the need for action on homelessness, while also mentioning delays affecting civil parentage legislation and Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman complaints. Senator Norris briefly endorsed her comments on the parentage issue.
I wish to raise the issue of rough sleepers. A count last night showed 156 people were sleeping rough in Dublin, and that included 121 people in the Dublin City Council area. Anthony Flynn, the CEO of the Inner City Helping Homeless charity, alluded to the fact that if those rough sleeping in the suburbs were taken into account, the figure would be as high as 200. I heard him speak on the radio recently about a new phenomenon of people pitching tents on beaches in the Portmarnock and Killiney areas. A total of 9,724 people are living in emergency accommodation.
Many of the emergency hostels opened last year are closing because their leases are running out. I raised this issue last week but it will become critical in the coming days as the weather worsens. Rain, sleet and snow are forecast. What does the Government intend to do to tackle the problem of rough sleepers? It is a problem that is not getting better. It is getting worse, and people are finding themselves in very difficult circumstances.
The second issue I want to raise concerns the Children and Family Relationships (Amendment) Act. When will the Government commence the Act? I have been contacted by families in same-sex marriages and unions who are very much in a legal limbo in respect of the civil parentage of their children.
Comment on this
The Minister has alluded to technical difficulties but it is very unfair to leave parents, children and families in a position where they are unclear as to the civil parentage of their children and the way they will be treated by the State, especially in accident and emergency-type situations, which can be very upsetting.
The third issue I want to raise is the backlog of cases at the Office of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. There is a very large number of outstanding complaints yet to be dealt with by that office, which is a last port of call for consumers who are having difficulties getting anywhere with various financial institutions. There has been an increase of 40% in those numbers from the beginning of 2018 to the end of October. Many issues regarding unresolved tracker mortgage cases arose last year and have arisen again this year. The Office of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman needs to be better resourced in order to ensure consumers are not waiting in limbo for their complaint about financial concerns or irregularities to be determined.