Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the second point first. We have a project board and a site group which are dealing with the whole issue of HAP. We are nuancing it all the time and as we roll out the process we are learning more. We are taking on board what we learn all the time and are adapting to the new process. Ultimately it is the right direction to take, although one does not get everything perfectly right on day one.

It takes people out of the poverty trap. I will take the Deputy’s comments on board directly. If she has any individual problems she should please bring them to me as well. That is chaired by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Social Protection, which is directly involved.

I am very interested in the prevention of homelessness, which the Deputy has raised several times in different fora. Last year was the first in which we had composite national data on homelessness. That is a fact. We publish quarterly reports on this. I agree that the focus has to be on prevention. The tenancy sustainable protocol, of which the Deputy is well aware, has been rolled out and has had an impact. We might need to roll it out even further. There is also the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, educational campaign on people’s rights. We have also stressed an enhanced role for the local authorities, for them to be as active and involved on the ground as well in prevention. It is not just a question of addressing the problems as they arise but of trying to facilitate and prevent families in particular coming in. I accept and agree that if, in the next 12 months or so, we can do that in a nuanced and better way it will be quite helpful because the economic turnaround and the supply coming up will redress the problem. We have had detailed discussions with all the organisations I mentioned, on how to roll the protocol out even further, with the PRTB on the campaigns, and Deputies can expect to see them, and with local authorities about being more hands-on.