Ms Niamh Randall:

I thank the joint committee for inviting us to today's meeting. The Simon Communities of Ireland is a network of communities that provide local responses to local needs and issues. They are based throughout the country in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, the midlands, the mid-west, the north west and the south east. They provide local responses to local issues. As members of the committee will be aware, the complexity of homelessness is touching every aspect of Irish life. The greatest impact is being felt by the most vulnerable people in society. We have provided our full submission to the committee. I will not go into the detail of the figures in the appendix to the submission because the Chairman has asked us to keep our presentation brief, but members will see that 7,699 people are currently in emergency accommodation. This is the highest such figure we have ever known. Among those who are in emergency accommodation are 1,312 families, 2,777 children and 3,150 adults who do not have dependants in their care. I intend to highlight some of the key aspects of our opening statement. As officials from Safetynet who have undertaken some of the key research in this area are present at this morning's meeting, I will ask them to set out some of the statistics and details in that regard.

There is a complex relationship between homelessness and health. Multiple health issues and needs can cause homelessness in the first place, but can also be a consequence of being homeless. We know from our experience throughout the country that the longer people remain homeless, the greater the impact on their overall health and well-being. The lack of a stable home can cause physical health issues. People who are homeless are at a much greater risk of developing illnesses than the general population. A recent study, which my colleagues will talk about, found that 67.8% of participants in a study of the health of homeless people had a chronic physical health diagnosis, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease, epilepsy, tuberculosis, chronic respiratory problems and stomach problems.