Dr. Una Burns:

The 44% return of all one- and two-bedroom units through the repair and lease scheme is fantastic. It should be a shining light for other local authorities. It is amazing.

On the Senator's comment regarding collaboration, collaboration between the DRHE, local authorities, the HSE and the voluntary bodies that provide homeless accommodation and ancillary services such as Safetynet, has been second to none during Covid-19. It has yielded excellent results in terms of containing Covid numbers in services and, in particular, moving people and families into secure tenancies during the pandemic. When we reflect on Covid-19 thus far, it has presented huge challenges for all of us but it has taught us many lessons. Working in collaboration has yielded better outcomes for our clients. We are all coming from different perspectives but first and foremost, our perspective is to provide better outcomes and shorter stays in homeless accommodation for people experiencing homelessness. The Covid-19 pandemic has helped us achieve that.