Leo Varadkar: Long-term use of B&Bs ‘very wrong’
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar believes it is “very wrong” that families live in emergency accommodation for prolonged stays, but he ruled out putting a date on when he sees an end to children living in hotels and B&Bs around the country.
In the first of a series of televised interviews with each party leader in the run-up to the general election, Mr Varadkar faced questions on health, climate action, and homelessness.
While he acknowledged that Rebuilding Ireland is not working yet for families and children in homeless accommodation, he would not say when he expects to see it ending.
“I can’t make that promise,” he said. “We have put in lots of family homes, which are much better than hotels and B&Bs. But the truth is, there will be occasions where families end up in crisis locations.”
No politician that is “being honest with you” can ever say they will totally end families living in hotels and B&Bs, he added.
When it was put to him that when Simon Coveney took over the housing brief, he publicly pledged that within a year no child would be living in a B&B or hotel, Mr Varadkar said Fine Gael “honestly believed” it could achieve that target at the time.
The year before Rebuilding Ireland was introduced, child and family homelessness increased by 60%, said Mr Varadkar.
“This year, it’s lower than it was this time last year,” he said. “And you know, that’s not great. Levelling off is nothing to be proud of but it does show that the increased supply of social housing has made a difference.
“Unfortunately, there will always be occasions where there are families in crisis, often not on the housing list.
A family breaks down and people end up homeless, and sometimes they may have to be accommodated in hotels and B&Bs.
“What I want to make sure does stop is that it doesn’t go on for weeks and months. That is what’s happening at the moment and that’s what is very wrong.
“If we are putting up a family in a B&B or a hotel, it’s to make sure they are not on the streets, and thankfully in Ireland we don’t have families living on the streets but they shouldn’t be living in B&Bs and hotels for prolonged periods of time.”
Asked about the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods; a homeless man gravely injured after his tent was removed by a digger, and a elderly woman pictured eating her dinner on the street, Mr Varadkar said this is not the Ireland he aspires to.
“We’re never going to live in a country that doesn’t have problems,” he said. “There’s no perfect country in the world. I think any reasonable person will say that if you look at things in the round, the country’s in a better place than it was two and a half years ago, or even nine years ago, but it’s not perfect.”
