Ms Sue Conlan:

If a person has been in full board and lodging, including bedding, he or she would not have the basics when moving to rented accommodation. That person must start with towels, duvets and sheets. All of these add up and a person might struggle even to get those together. There should be access to that initial funding or some assistance in that way. A task force was set up to respond to the working group and the protection process last year.

It produced a document which contained useful information about the Citizens Information Board, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and so forth, but information alone, unless it is tangible and can help somebody access something, does not necessarily mean much. That points to somebody being put in place. In other countries the equivalent of the Reception and Integration Agency could tell them what group they now needed to approach to tell them about access to social welfare, help them access it and help them navigate the housing market. That type of assistance can make a huge difference. It means that although one is still joining a queue of 20 when looking at private accommodation, at least one is joining a queue rather than floundering about where even to find the accommodation.