Ms Niamh Lambe:

Homework is sometimes done in a car on the way home from school or while mom or dad is on the way to collect another child. One child might finish school at 12.30 p.m. or 1.30 p.m. but another child might not be finished until 3.30 p.m. Parents could be in a car or, in the absence of a car, which happens quite often, on a bus or another form of public transport. In the accommodation where children are staying, homework is done on the bed or on the floor. These children are missing some basic developmental things. Children do not have space to crawl. Younger children do not have space to learn how to crawl. Older children do not have space to sit and do their homework without their younger siblings around. Teenagers do not have space to be teenagers. The trauma is reinforced at every level of childhood while these children are homeless.