Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The first thing I will say is that accuracy of data is very important. While Deputy O'Brien is right in saying that the people behind the numbers are more important, if we are not counting accurately, we do not know if things are getting better or worse and we do not know if the policies that have been put in place are the right or wrong ones. I do believe that the accuracy of the monthly homelessness reports is very important. I disagree with the Minister. I think those reports provide us with a huge amount of information. We are one of two EU member states that provide monthly reporting and are the envy of almost every other EU member state because we have access to that data.

I am trying to understand the rationale for the decision to remove a certain number of adults and children from the March figures. My questions in the first instance concern that. Obviously, we will discuss the broader piece about the two reports when the Minister comes before the committee but I presume he is able to give us information underpinning the decision to take adults and children out of the March numbers. Can the Minister tell us the exact number of households - adults and children - that were removed from the March figures on the grounds of alleged mis-categorisation?