Ms Alice Leahy:

In years past, we used to visit all the hostels but we do not do that anymore. Certainly, from what we hear from people who come to us, some hostels are very well run. Nevertheless, there has been an increase, as Senator Fitzpatrick and Mr. Kenny noted, of privately run hostels and we have received complaints about some of them.

When we get a complaint, we encourage the person who comes to us with it to complain to the DRHE. We have been in contact with it about some of those hostels and it dealt with any problems we raised. I thank Mr. Kenny for that.

I believe that if hostels, privately-run or otherwise, are getting a lot of State aid they should be inspected. People need to see if those places are comfortable and safe. There is a terrible danger when one talks about inspections whereby somebody goes in and does not capture the humanity of the staff, which is required by the people staying there. It is a bit like the bureaucracy where somebody rushes in, has everything in order and, perhaps, does not listen to the little nuggets of companionship or comfort. I believe we need to look at hostels that are being run as a business, because many of those hostels are referred to.

On the other hand, emergency accommodation had to be found. This is where we are at now and it is a good time to look at the whole picture. Are these hostels suitable? Why do we need to have so many privately-run hostels? Are the services available or even allowed into those hostels? We need to acknowledge, though, it is not too long ago that the mantra was to get rid of all the hostels. There are, however, many long-established hostels around which a certain ethos has developed. Perhaps, that is why they were set up. They are very different from privately-run hostels, however.

Certainly, if a lot of taxpayers' money is going into these places we need to ask questions. We need to ask if people feel safe and comfortable. There is certainly drug-taking in hostels. That has come across as a clear concern with people being afraid. If places are properly run, people should be able to live safely even if it is only for a short time. These, however, are issues our public representatives need to address.