MacManus hits out at government record on addressing homelessness

Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus has hit out at the Dublin government’s record on homelessness. MEP MacManus was speaking at a debate in Strasbourg on the 70th anniversary of Abbé Pierre’s appeal on addressing homelessness. 

In his address to the European Parliament, MacManus said:

“In Ireland, we have had successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments setting records they should be ashamed of. They have consistently overseen increase after increase in the number of homeless persons in Ireland.”

“Indeed, just before Christmas – A new record was set. The number of homeless people in Ireland reached 13,179. 3,991 of those children.”

“If the Irish government are serious about tackling the housing and homeless crises, they must reinstate the ban on no fault evictions in order to create the space for an emergency response to be put in place. We need a package of measures to reduce the number of people becoming homeless in Ireland. We need to put a stop the vulture and cuckoo funds evicting families or buying up the housing stock from under the noses of workers and families. We need a new approach that puts people ahead of the vested and financial interests. Only then can our children sleep easy.” ENDS