The Government has been given an ‘F’ grade for its record on child and family homelessness, which the Children’s Rights Alliance says has a “devastating” impact on children.

In evidence to an Oireachtas committee, the Alliance criticised the State’s failure to reduce the number of children living in emergency homeless accommodation and urged the Government to invest long-term in public housing.

The Alliance, a coalition of over 100 organisations, also called on the Government to follow through on the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Convention to enshrine a constitutional right to housing.

The submission highlights the destructive impact of homelessness on children’s development and the negative health consequences of life in emergency accommodation.

Earlier this month, ICTU General Secretary Patricia King confronted Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on the issue, saying that Government should not let children “pay a dreadful price” for its policy failures.

You can read the full submission of the Children’s Rights Alliance HERE and find out more about the No Child 2020 campaign HERE.