Ms Kelly Anne Byrne:

My children and I struggled through homelessness ourselves a number of years ago in the midst of domestic violence. Thankfully, we got the right support. We had to go into bed and breakfast accommodation and to a hostel. We were faced with absolutely nothing. We had to put belongings into storage and we went with just the clothes on our backs to the council. We practically had to beg for help and support. It was extremely tough. I had twin girls and had lost my daughter to cot death while in the midst of domestic violence. We were in turmoil and had no support. It is only when we lost our home that people started to see that we as a family really needed support. A little light then started to shine on us and we started to gain the needed support. I started to get the right support to be able to be the best mam I can be for my children and to have stability. That was when Focus Ireland, the women's refuge and so on came in. We worked our way up and did a lot of healing.

Five and a half years later, thanks to Focus Ireland, we are supported and stable. I am able to look at careers and what I want to do with my life. My kids are stable. They are in school and college. They are in a community. There has been significant progress from the poverty that we were living in to what we are in now. There are still gaps. I feel that I would like to completely come out of the poverty trap and get back into work, to be able to show my children that they can become whatever they want to be. We need the right support and the right hours. We need the Government to work with lone parents and carers to find practical steps that actually work.