Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That has been a key issue, as one might expect, in my discussions with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in the context of the Estimates for the budget. There has been a significant increase in the funding for homelessness services in recent years and we need to continue with that. There has been some progress on the reduction in the numbers of homeless families and individuals, but there has been nowhere near enough and we need to do much better. While a top priority for the Government is to deal with the housing crisis in its various forms, its most acute form is where a person or family is homeless. We have had good engagement in the context of the Estimates and can, I hope, deliver a decent envelope to make more progress on the issue.