Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has welcomed comments by Dr Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection that the placement of homeless children in emergency accommodation is contrary to International Law and said that the scandal of children spending years in bed and breakfast type rooms must be tackled as a matter of urgency.

Deputy Crowe said:

“I want to welcome and support Geoffrey Shannon’s recent comments that the placement of homeless children in emergency accommodation is contrary to International Law.

“Placing young children in many of these settings is wholly inadequate and something which my party Sinn Féin and others have been highlighting to the Government for some time now but to no avail.

“The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is also on record and recommended that children should be placed in emergency accommodation for a short time only, and that placing a child in temporary accommodation is not a permanent or suitable response to homelessness.

“Currently there are over 2,000 children who find themselves in emergency accommodation across the state with many of them based in Dublin.

“The Special Rapporteur believes that this ‘temporary solution’ is in breach of international law.

“We need to remove it as an option permanently, by giving all homeless children and their families the right to suitable alternative accommodation and the right to their own home.

“Many of them are packed into totally unsuitable one hotel rooms with no cooking facilities and far away from school and friends

“Parents of these children are clearly not to blame with many of them having lost their homes and livelihoods during the recession.

“Years of no new social housing, no new housing builds and the lack of rent certainty has created the perfect storm where families and children are paying the ultimate price.

“Rents are rocketing and landlords in the current climate can charge astronomical amounts to any new tenants.

“The deposits that are being asked for by many landlords for rented accommodation are beyond the means of most applicants.

“We need action not meaningless handwringing to tackle this crisis immediately.

“Emergency accommodation is not conducive to the development of any child, and we are failing these children as a result.

“Emergency accommodation, save in exceptional circumstances, even for short periods must become a thing of the past.

“We need to ensure children are moved from these locations as soon as possible. That involves delivering as soon as possible housing with some stability, and solving the rent certainty crisis, which this Government has thus far refused to do.”