Dr. Niall Muldoon:

With regard to children and families being forced into homeless services, in 2011 the Office of the Ombudsman for Children created a report on concerns about homeless issues for young people. My colleague, Ms O'Shea, led the investigation. We looked at young people aged 16 or 17 coming out of the care system and getting lost and finding themselves homeless. Over the past year or two we have found this has completely changed and the type of people becoming homeless are a different entity.

As the Deputy pointed out, it now affects young families who previously would have survived within the rental accommodation scheme. I have noted the issue but I need to examine it in more depth. I cannot provide the precise numbers but I believe we are encountering more than was the case heretofore. The lack of stock, for want of a better word, seems to be exacerbating the issue. It is on my radar but I will have to consider how I might address it properly. I am concerned about the impact on children when families are accommodated in hotels and face the prospect of having to move from one hotel to another, which means that public health services or special needs support, such as speech and language therapy, may not be able to find them again.