Ms Mary Hurley:

The allocation of homes is very complex. There is a system of allocations, with people on waiting lists, and we are trying to move people out of homeless accommodation too. It is not as straightforward as simply building houses and moving people out of hotels. Deputy Mitchell is correct that in some circumstances, families have been in hotels for much longer than six months. It is up to two years in the case of some families. They may have a particular need or specialist requirement. We sometimes see reluctance among families in emergency accommodation to leave and move to the HAP scheme. A range of things is happening. Sometimes the family is very large, with multiple children, and it is hard to accommodate them. It is not straightforward. We work hard with the DRHE, the regional leads, and the housing authorities across the country to move people on as quickly as possible.

With regard to delivery, we all agree that supply is key and that is why we are ramping up and accelerating delivery. The funding is in place and we are trying to move as quickly as we can, which is why we are streamlining our processes. We also have to deliver quality homes for families. We all agree that we want to move families out of hotel accommodation as quickly as possible but the Deputy is correct that it is harder to move some families on in some circumstances. We want to move families to the right home with the right supports. In some circumstances, families are not in a position to move out of emergency accommodation because they still need the supports provided to them in that accommodation through the housing authority. The Department and local authorities are working hard to have families exit emergency accommodation. The numbers indicate that we prevent one in every two families from going into emergency accommodation. Unfortunately, some are still going into emergency accommodation. The Deputy raised some good points about the type of services that should be provided to families over the summer. We will get her a note about it. There are sports clubs and events organised for families throughout the summer.