I’ll give Batman gift to homeless boy Kevin
MARY Lou Mcdonald has slammed Leo Varadkar for living in a “Tory Boy bubble” over the housing crisis.
The Sinn Fein leader clashed with the Taoiseach in the Dail yesterday following the Irish Mirror’s front page exclusive on a homeless boy.
We featured Kevin Maughan’s sad and poignant letter in which he wrote: “Santa, my name is Kevin, please come to the hotel again with Batman toys.”
The seven-year-old lives in emergency accommodation in Ennis, Co Clare, with his parents and little sister Shakira, who is six.
Mrs Mcdonald challenged the Taoiseach over the heartbreaking story in yesterday’s Leaders’ Questions, which was described as an indictment of Government policy.
And Mr Varadkar was forced to promise Santa would find Kevin and others without homes this Christmas.
Bringing the issue up as her topic of the day, Mrs Mcdonald said: “The Taoiseach may have seen Kevin Maughan’s letter to Santa Claus, covered in one of the papers this morning.
“He writes to Santa, ‘Please come to my hotel again with Batman toys’.
“That is what he wants this year. Kevin is seven.
“He lives in emergency accommodation in Co Clare with his parents and little sister.
“Kevin has developed asthma due to his homelessness because he has stayed in so many cold and damp places.”
Sinn Fein has compiled a damning dossier on the homelessness scandal – The Humans Of The Housing Crisis – which was presented to Mr Varadkar and Minister Eoghan Murphy yesterday.
Mrs Mcdonald added: “This document is a catalogue of heartbreak, trauma and shattered dreams. It has been caused by the Taoiseach’s Government.” Mr Varadkar then responded with the promise that Santa would get to Kevin.
He said: “We all acknowledge the human stories around homelessness and the appalling impact homelessness has on both parents and families. I share the Deputy’s concern about children who, in the run-up to Christmas, are concerned about whether Santa will be able to find them on Christmas Eve.
“He will find them and the same goes for children in hospitals, emergency accommodation, hotels or who are at home with their parents.”
But an angry Mrs Mcdonald did not believe Mr Varadkar was being sincere.
She said: “People outside of politics have said to me the problem