Dr. Austin O'Carroll:

I might speak on that point. This is a common problem with homelessness. For example, there is a service in Dublin called a wet hostel. The issue of people staying out all day drinking alcohol only to return to their hostel too late was mentioned. A wet hostel is where people are allowed to drink on the premises to counter that problem. The Dublin wet hostel was set up seven or eight years ago and has been successful. It caters for chronic alcoholics who would otherwise be out on the streets.

I will provide an example of the complexity involved. In a recent survey, Dr. Cliona Ní Cheallaigh found that the wet hostel's 32 residents accounted for 2% of admissions at St. James's Hospital.

We reckon that if they were not in the wet hostel, they would account for a significantly higher percentage of admissions. If one does not manage certain groups of complex people, they will cause mayhem and huge costs. We must have flexibility in our responses to them. We need institutions such as the wet hostels which are very good, or the intermediate care centres to respond to these needs.