Mr. Declan Dunne:

I thank the Chairman and Members of the Oireachtas for inviting us here today, listening to us and assisting us in so many ways. This committee is focused on two things - housing and homelessness. For housing, there are three words: "supply", "supply", "supply".

In terms of homelessness, I put it to the committee that it is a symptom of something else. From my work experience in Sophia, more than half of the people we support come with a history of the care system, and I believe the experience has been similar for the other representatives. What does that mean? If people have come through that situation, they have not benefited from having parents available to support them, both in terms of care and the boundaries that they need. I am a parent of two adult boys and we loved and cared for them, but we also created some boundaries because they needed those to be able to operate successfully in life.

Many of those in these services that the State is paying for are providing homes for people but they are also providing support for people to engage effectively with society. It is not their fault that the people did not benefit in that way when they were young. The professional staff we have, most of whom have level 8 qualifications and master's degrees and are working for very little money on fixed pay, are working to teach people those skills to be able to be constructive participants in society. I strongly believe that the effectiveness and efficiency of this investment is bringing back more than the provision of housing to people in this situation. It is helping with respect to all those other costs in the criminal justice system and in all the other systems that exist in the country. I thank the committee for continuing to do that. It is very worthwhile and it is appropriate in this, the centenary year of 1916, that focus and attention is being given to this issue.