Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their contributions and statements, and most of all for the extraordinary work they carry out all of the time. It is really quite remarkable. People are cared for in the State due to the extraordinary work that is ongoing.

Early this morning the Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network ran a forum on sexual abuse and trauma. One of the contributors there spoke about the inextricable link between trauma and homelessness. Picking up on Ms Leahy's comments about young people and the need for wraparound services, support and time, I was involved in a very early Foyer project in Dublin with Mr. Brendan Kenny, who was incredibly supportive.

The project is for young people coming out of care and is now run by Depaul. I wonder about the amount of that supported sheltered housing, involving independent living with wraparound services, that is available. Are we seeing those sort of developments coming through and what part will they play?

My second question is on Airbnb. With the lack of tourism and availability, those sort of properties have come back onto the market. Is there any indication of the percentages of those that are being used for the increased numbers of people exiting homelessness and moving into secure accommodation? I would be keen to know how we would support that in terms of a strengthening of rules and building on what the previous Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, put in place.

I very much understand the logic of the DRHE in having the local connection. When the homeless agency was first started around 2000, we all visited Vienna where we spoke to people in its homeless services. We heard how they put people who arrive in Vienna who are not from Vienna on trains and send them home because they are better dealt with locally where they have family supports. I have two questions arising from that. First, what if somebody genuinely wants to come to Dublin because, for a variety of complex reasons, he or she may need to get away from the place he or she is coming from? How do we support that and allow someone to do so in a situation where there will not be a local connection? I appreciate that the rules are suspended during the pandemic but post Covid we need to know that someone who is homeless has a right to change city or town in our country and that we have a pathway to provide for that. My memory of the service in Vienna is that a person was given a pack, his or her train fare was paid and he or she was given supports to get home. People were not just told "No". I am keen to hear about what is in place, if anything, in Dublin.