Ms Mary Hayes:

I thank the Deputy for his comments on the team. I will pass them on. Ms Breathnach and I can both talk about this issue. As I have said, our assessment is not immediate and is open-ended. Our concern in Dublin is that we do not want to become the only place developing homeless services. We need to ensure that services are still developed close to where people are from and where they are becoming homeless from. That is different from when someone is in Dublin for a long time, although we do not quantify it in terms of years. If someone is in Dublin and for whatever reason they are not going back home, we do an assessment, which might involve checking with the local authority of origin. That is about making sure someone is making a full and informed decision. If someone is giving up after a few years on a housing list somewhere else, we want that person to realise exactly how long they will be waiting for an offer of social housing from Dublin City Council if they start at the bottom of the list with us. Those are some of the things we do. It is important for us to do that because we do not want people to just drift into homelessness. We are also very conscious of the drug issue. There is a drug culture in Dublin city and there is risk there. We have to bear all those factors in mind and decide if someone is at greater risk coming in. Of course we try to prevent that and say to people to keep their natural supports if they have them, but notwithstanding that, people will come to Dublin and will need accommodation in Dublin from other local authorities. It takes a little back and forth but most of that is assuring ourselves that the person is in full possession of the facts before they come to Dublin and before we accept them onto our housing list.