Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the idea of a Leap card. We are delaying the notion of free travel anyway. A friend of mine pointed out that people pay for the bus to get to work to pay tax to pay for the bus so we are just delaying free travel. People using Leap card, particularly during the summer, would use the spare capacity of Dublin Bus and a card would help people who could not afford such travel. If the Minister does not make a move on this, it would be worth talking to Dublin Bus or the Luas provider directly. An Post, amidst its rebrand, has provided for homeless people in terms of postal services.

Many of the broader issues have been covered but I want to discuss LGBT homelessness. Focus Ireland was here last week but I did not get an opportunity to commend its work alongside BeLonG To in preparing research and data on LGBT homelessness in this State. It is a global issue. A recent study in the UK found that a quarter of young homeless people are LGBT. The Albert Kennedy Trust report found that 69% of young LGBT people reported that parental rejection was a reason for their homelessness. In 2013, the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children that LGBT people were highly represented among Ireland's homeless and "a targeted response is required". Are the witnesses conscious of the issue? A hostile family environment and stigma are more prevalent than we realise, particularly for young transgender people.