Mr. Conor Skehan:

The Deputy has the gift of brevity. He packed a lot into those five questions so I will do the best I can to answer them in the correct order. The Deputy should correct me if I leave anything out. The Deputy is correct that the Department and the Minister said they have no evidence of it. Our advice back to the Minister is the elephant and the ant one - look harder Minister. That is our job - to give independent and objective advice and to tell people things they do not want to hear. That is the Minister's position. I say things he may not agree with or like. That is my job - to call the shots as I see them, end of. That is clear.

With regard to the question about normalising homelessness, I can do nothing except agree with the Deputy.

The Deputy has made a very important point, namely, that using international comparisons as benchmarks is absolutely riven through with difficulties of having comparators across the line. The public commentary, in particular by advocates for the housing charities, is that some countries count people couch surfing as being homeless and others count someone living beyond a certain amount of time with their parents as being homeless. It is a problem that bedevils the system. The Deputy is absolutely correct. Again, one of the things we are pointing out is the need for us to have access to those type of international comparators. No game, no contest. The Deputy is correct.