Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If he lets me ask my questions - I will be quick - he might have time. I always share my time and I normally let non-members go before me, but I want to come in on this.

I know we are talking about one pillar of Rebuilding Ireland. From the onset of Rebuilding Ireland, we always said we needed all five pillars to work together to solve the housing crisis. We are picking one pillar today, but we need to keep in context what is happening in the other four pillars where we are seeing improvements. The figures coming back in that area are very promising.

I acknowledge the unbelievable work done by Ms Gleeson and her team during the adverse weather we have seen in the past year. I was in contact with the DRHE a number of times during those. While we are all told to stay at home and stay safe, members of Ms Gleeson's team are out on the street. They repeatedly go back to people who are unfortunately sleeping rough trying to entice them into safe accommodation. For some reason some people just do not want to.

I know the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, DRHE, was very successful during the last period of adverse weather. I do not think the enormous work that goes on behind the scenes or the sacrifices Ms Gleeson's team make are ever really publicly acknowledged, so I want to acknowledge that work. I also want to acknowledge the work of Housing First. Mr. Bob Jordan is present. Incredible work is carried out by Housing First to support people with dignity and respect which enables them to live in their own accommodation. I rarely see the details of that work in the media. We do not include them in our categorisation figures because we are trying to look after those people. Their need is so complex that it is appropriate that they are not categorised. I acknowledge the work that is not always spoken about here.

An enormous amount of work was done during the visit of the Pope to offset any issues that might have arisen and to help families presenting at homeless centres that perhaps could not have been accommodated. I am aware of resources set aside that were not used, but were available in case they were needed. I welcome the fact that there is always forward planning and that adequate facilities are provided for. What provisions are in place in terms of winter planning for the coming months? It would be great if people knew the day-to-day work involved, the hours that are put in and the work done after hours.

What is the rental strategy? I get the impression that "landlord" and "developer" are bad words. We need landlords in this sector, and we need builders and developers to build houses. We have to be practical and realistic about this, and frank when we are talking about it. We need a functional rental market. I am not speaking on behalf of the committee here, but my belief is that when there is too much interference in a rental market 10,000 people will pull out of it. We have to be really careful about interfering in the rental market. The rent pressure zones, RPZs, seem to be working in certain areas, and have been extended. Further measures will be in place before and after Christmas. We have to take it step by step, otherwise there will be a mass exit from the sector and we will have another problem on our hands. We tend to look at the negatives rather than the positives, but I try to be balanced about it.

I understand that, when it comes to the provision of single bed or one bedroom units, it is for each local authority to examine what the demographic need is in its own area and to provide accommodation according to the collated evidence. When the local authorities come to the homelessness interagency group I presume they are acting on that basis and that they are acting proportionate to what the need is. There is a wide need for one bed units on the housing list in Dún Laoghaire. We are seeing a lot of people who need such accommodation. I helped to open houses for older people the week before last. Deputy Boyd Barrett also attended that opening. Dún Laoghaire has done tremendous work around step-down accommodation and people in independent living, and I want to recognise that.

We are here to hold the witnesses to account. They have received a lot of criticism and have rarely been complimented. However, I do not question the bona fides of any of the witnesses before this committee, or their intentions or their goodwill. Any information I have asked for has been afforded to me. I might not like the categorisation in some instances and I might question it, but I never question the goodwill and the intention to solve the crisis before us. The witnesses have come in for a lot of bashing at meetings, which might be fair or unfair, but we never recognise the enormous work they do. They do not work nine to five, and do not get the holidays that those of us working in Leinster House get. I want to acknowledge that and commend the witnesses on that. Although we have a long way to go, we can only solve the crisis collectively. We cannot solve the homeless crisis without solving issues in social housing, the rental sector and building issues. The issues have to be solved in their totality, and we cannot lose sight of that. It is very easy to pick one area over another and politicise that area. I always look to solve the entire crisis.

Perhaps Ms. Gleeson could comment on the winter plan.