Increase in number of children who are homeless is a scandal

While homeless figures for April announced today show a very slight decrease they are still alarmingly high but the most concerning aspect is the increase in the number of children who are without a home by 43 bringing the total number of homeless children in Ireland to 3,689.

This is a scandal.

These children are in truly precarious situations, along with their families in many cases with nowhere to play, far from their friends and school and filled with an anxiety about the future that no child should have to endure.

This brings more urgency to the need to implement the kind of measures I presented on behalf of the Labour Party to the Dáil today to prevent families from losing their homes and also to see the Government progress our Housing (Homeless Families) Bill which would ensure the needs of children whose families are homeless are addressed.

As we shine a light on the wrongs done to children in the past, we must find real solutions to the plight of the children of the present whose lives are blighted by being homeless.