Mr. Oisín Quinn:

What was striking to me, particularly during the September-November phase, when meeting different groups of people running businesses in the city centre was that they would be delighted with any new initiative. Such was the level of desperation, I had people saying they would contribute money to a solution.

The value of such a scheme for Dublin is significant. The Grow Dublin task force, on which I also sit, has projected that if we could grow tourism in Dublin by 7% for the next six years, it would be worth €1.2 billion to the economy along with 20,000 jobs. There is significant willingness to get behind this initiative.

On resources, I echo Mr. Lang’s point about co-operation. Since October on the policing forum, we have started to co-operate with the outreach teams, homeless services and the Garda. While it will report in February, the feedback already is that it is making a difference. We are doing it on a small scale with one person at a time. It frees up gardaí if there is a trust between them and a homeless person so that they can say they do not want to arrest them but have them call into Tony Duffin the following day. Co-operation can lead to extra efficiencies.