Ms Mary Hayes:

The two things are completely linked in respect of the reduction in rough sleeping. Last year, 61 tenancies were created, specifically in Dublin City Council, under Housing First. I recognise the names of those tenants. We review them at the end of every year and those names are well known to us; they are people we have known for years in the services. Housing First has been fantastic and has received major support. There are difficulties with bedding it down in some communities, but in the city centre we have access to one-bedroom accommodation. When we reach out to communities to say what we are trying to do, people have been incredibly supportive of Housing First and its outcomes. That can be seen with the tenancy sustainments.

On the reduction in homeless numbers, we have to pay tribute to Dublin Simon for its role, which has been fantastic, and the Peter McVerry Trust in terms of the intake team. Both those teams are contributing. They are telling us what the person wants and what it will take for that person to come off the street. That kind of bespoke response is producing results we were not getting previously when it was just the same. Sometimes, we were offering the same accommodation all the time and people were not responding to it.