Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an area we need to look at to a greater extent in the future. There is an increasing cohort of people who suffer from social and economic deprivation and, as a result, find themselves under medical and mental pressure to a huge extent. Way back in the days of old, we tried to have a programme of identifying families who were at risk for various reasons. We tried to have a case worker who focused on two or three families in order to provide a safety net for them so they did not become a burden on themselves or become homeless or reliant on drugs or alcohol. I do not know how feasible that programme might be in the future but it could be very important. We need to keep that in mind when we consider the issue of homelessness.

There is also an increasing number of people, quite often single men and single women, who are dropping out of society, sleeping rough and coming to the attention of the authorities and all kinds of things. Have we arrived at the time where there is a need for emergency supervised accommodation in towns and villages throughout the country, which would not have been heard of years ago, with a view to alleviating their problems? They would have a place where they could go. They would have a roof over their heads and a place that is supervised. There could be a manager within their immediate environment in order to encourage and support them.

My last point is about younger women, in particular very young women, with children who find themselves under social or economic pressure and pushed down the list. They have little knowledge of motherhood or raising a family and do not know where to go. It is a problem that has come up again and again. They need support. We need to invest in the provision of support services, to give them something to lean on at crucial times, so they do not find themselves pushed to the side and ignored. It is something that does not immediately come into focus at present other than when talking about the future. In my time in public life, I have seen a huge increase in the number of young people who are sleeping rough, who are in danger of sleeping rough or who are dropping out of society and have become addicts for a variety of reasons and progressed in an area that is not helpful to them at all.