Dr. Dermot Kavanagh:

I am a big advocate of Housing First. It certainly has been transformative in prioritising people who have been very long-term homeless. Some of the people we have housed have been homeless for up to 20 years. Many have very complex needs. A few years back, Professor Nicholas Pleace of the University of York did a categorisation and talked about lighter versions of Housing First. The Deputy is right, there needs to be a relentless focus on people who are long-term homeless, not just those with the very complex needs that the current Housing First programmes are targeting, but those who have moderate to high support needs as well. The tenancy sustainment services need to use the same model when working with people.

The biggest barrier to expanding Housing First services is the availability of one bed units. There are a lot more coming down the tracks in Cork and I am sure in other areas as well. A decision needs to be made to prioritise and to give a disproportionate number of one bed units for programmes like that and to expand it.

It should expand it and focus very much, as I said, on the roughly 10% of people who are availing of 50% of the bed nights in emergency shelters. That would have the most immediate impact on taking pressure off the system, which is urgently necessary now. I hope that answers everything.