Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. With the publication of the accommodation review next week, what we will make clear is that while nine counties do not have refuge spaces at all, that is not necessarily where the immediate need is and there may be a crossover. We need to look at where there is a lack of capacity, and at where there are already refuges spaces but a significant need for further and additional ones.

What we do not want to do, and what I do not want to do, in responding to a short-term demand, is to identify possible accommodation that is not suitable, that does not have the wrap-around supports and services that are needed, and that will not fit into a longer-term model, which is really what we need to do here. We need to plan longer term.

On the structure that currently exists, which we are very much working on it at the moment, it is a bottom-up approach. Organisations have to come forward. They have to be designated as an approved housing body. They have to apply through the capital assistance scheme, CAS, which is the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. They have to go through a very difficult and lengthy process. If one does not have an organisation that comes forward then there will be no refuge. We need to look at that and amend the model. We also need to possibly look at a number of ways in which a refuge, accommodation units or spaces can be provided. That may include the Government or our agencies intervening as well.

There are various different elements of work under way at the moment to identify all of those gaps and needs. I will outline them in the coming weeks and months.