O'Gorman admits 82 people forced to sleep in tents this weekend

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman TD

There are 82 people living in tents this weekend as they have had nowhere else to go, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman has admitted.

That is despite promises that no one would be left in tents. 

Mr O'Gorman's comments came as it emerged letters have been sent to 52 people living in direct provision, who have been granted international protection here, telling them that they must move to emergency accommodation. 

In one letter, reported on by RTÉ a person is told they are being moved from direct provision accommodation to a tent in Knockalisheen, Co Clare next week.

Mr O’ Gorman said the government has continued to provide accommodation for a very significant number of people fleeing both the war in Ukraine and arriving in Ireland seeking international protection.

“Now we're accommodating 58,000 Ukrainians and 20,000 people in international protection. There is real pressure on housing. 

"And in those situations, we have to look at all mechanisms we can to provide accommodation or provide shelter for people and that's meant we've had to go back and have reliance on tents. It's a small number. Right now it's about 82 of the 20,000 people who we are accommodating in international protection,” he said.

“It is far from the preference and I absolutely accept that. But it is a recognition of the real pressure that we're under right now,” he added.

“We are providing accommodation for 75,000 people in one year's time. That's a scale that has never been undertaken in this country.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics on Sunday afternoon, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said over the last five years 400 people have died in homelessness in Dublin.

“Homelessness is a threat to the life of people. And the figures are incredible here in the three months in advance of the eviction ban coming into play. There were 4,700 notices to quit. There are 1,200 homes in total in the whole state available to rent,” he said.

On April 1, there is going to be a significant increase in the number of people who will be made homeless and we know that the local authority emergency accommodation spaces will fill extremely fast, Mr Tóibín said.

He said Government talk of mitigation factors to address the likely increase in homelessness is missing any details on what is planned.

“Surely, if you're going to bring about such a radical change as getting rid of the eviction ban, you would also bring about, in tandem, solutions to help the people who will suffer as a result,” he said.

Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall described the decision to remove the ban on evictions from April 1 as “highly irresponsible” saying the situation should be declared a “national emergency”.

Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway Walsh said the Government has “abandoned renters” and this is the result of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s record in government.

“We do not have even the emergency accommodation to be able to meet the tsunami that's coming downstream on this, and we have to do something about it and as legislators, we have to push back on this,” she said.

Ms Conway Walsh said her party is not looking for an indefinite ban on evictions but enough to allow the Government to get its house in order.

In response, Mr O’Gorman said the Government is looking to bring forward an additional 2,000 emergency beds this year.

In response to ending the ban, he said he and the Green Party is fighting for a move from a short term response, which is what the eviction ban represented, to a longer term response which will keep people in their homes.

“I'm acutely aware and government is acutely aware that this decision is going to put real anxiety on people who are renting at the moment,” he said.

Mr O’Gorman said the steps that the government is taking include bringing forward more emergency beds this year.

“We'll be proposing 2000 more emergency beds across 2023. We’ll be looking at increasing the amount of social leasing. Both local authorities and the Department of Housing are looking to source them across a range of areas and looking to go beyond hotel accommodation because we recognise there is a limit in terms of that of hotel accommodation,” he said.