Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

My questions are for the Minister. As he is aware, people in homelessness experience a range of issues, particularly in emergency accommodation. A good report done by Inner City Helping Homelessness, ICHH, was published this week. I encourage the Minister to read it, if he has not done so already. It is the latest research detailing how people are experiencing homelessness. They do not feel safe and many people have been subject to thefts, assaults and sexual assaults. About 84% said they would not feel comfortable making a complaint about a homeless service they are receiving. Many respondents said they are afraid if they do make a complaint that they would lose their bed and lose their place.

At this committee previously, in the Dáil and, indeed, in the media, the Minister has stated that extra resources are being provided for more inspections and he stated categorically that the national quality standards framework, NQSF, for all homeless services is being applied to private providers of emergency accommodation. That is not the case. Brendan Kenny, from Dublin City Council was in with us a few months ago and he confirmed that is not the case. An "RTÉ Investigates" programme has also confirmed that is not the case. In addition, documents released under freedom of information, FOI, rules have confirmed that is not the case. These national quality standards are not being applied to private providers of emergency accommodation.

What is the Minister going to do to ensure that national quality standards are applied to all providers of homeless services, including private operators? When will inspections of emergency accommodation resume? They have not been taking place in the past year. Just as importantly, given that emergency accommodation is not the answer here, what is the Minister going to do in respect of putting more resources into Housing First and housing-led approaches?