Mr. Noel Waters:

Let us bring it up to date. We mentioned this earlier. The rates per person per day are remarkably similar to what they were five or six years ago. This year, they are a little lower than they were last year. The rate is approximately €30 per person per day. Some years ago, the rate was €32 per person per day. The rate paid in the State-owned sector, that is to say, where accommodation is provided by the State, at the moment is €20 per person per day. There is no capital cost on the contractors. It is provided directly by the State. On foot of a procurement exercise, that increased from approximately €15 to €20 per person per day. In the round, we are getting good value.

It is difficult to measure this when we do not have direct comparators. The nearest comparator we have is what is being paid, as we understand it, in respect of emergency accommodation in the Dublin area for homeless people in hotels. The most recent figures I saw suggested that something of the order of €50 million was paid last year to provide accommodation for approximately 900 families, of which 700 were in hotels and the remaining number were in different, mixed accommodation. That is the nearest equivalent. Apparently, that worked out at approximately €55,000 per family per year. Our metrics show that we pay approximately €12,000 per person per year.