Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of Simon. I met Ms Randall two weeks ago, before we knew if she would be appearing before us. I was very taken with her and with the work Simon does. I was very taken with the idea of the right to housing which struck me that day. The emphasis was on getting people into houses first and then providing follow-on supports. We met the Peter McVerry Trust this morning and it said that 80% of the people with whom it dealt had drug problems and 60% had mental health problems. I am sure the statistics are similar for Simon.

We are meant to have our phones turned off but I am getting texts from my office in Waterford where a girl has presented as homeless in the past hour. She has found a house in Portlaw, which is where I live, but the problem is the deposit. The forms will take another four weeks to process and she will lose the house and be homeless tonight. It is unbelievable that we are sitting here discussing this and a story like that comes through on my phone. My PA is not there and the secretary is not so familiar with the situation as she is only new. It is horrendous that the house is there, the rent is sorted and she can afford it but she cannot afford the deposit, so she will lose the house. This is something we come up against all the time and this committee will have to look at the question of deposits so that people can get into private rented accommodation. It is so difficult to get a house but she will lose it over the paperwork not being completed fast enough.