Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I actually do not have a question. I just want to make a brief comment. I agree with what Professor Drudy says about seeing housing as a right and not a way to make profit. I am a tenant myself and have moved a lot in the past few years as a result of houses being sold and so on, but obviously I am in different circumstances from many people. We forget the impact this is having on children, not just the emergency or overcrowded accommodation but also that constant moving. It is not good for them. It is not good for their sense of identity and their school friends and other similar things. Professor Drudy's point about having to start with how we see housing and whether it is a right or whether we see it as something that serves to make a profit is an important one. That is where we must go from in the whole issue. It is really good to see somebody who has come before the committee saying that because it is so true. I think in a number of years we will possibly have difficulty with some children having mental health issues after going through all of this, especially children who spend long periods either moving from house to house or staying in bed and breakfast emergency accommodation. We probably will not see the exact fallout of that right now but I think we will in a few years' time.