Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my absence. I was speaking in the Seanad on the mother and baby homes redress Bill. It struck me when I was speaking on the Bill that it ties in to this issue because many homeless people have come from institutional care. The discussion on the older cohort reminded me of the number of people who have come from various areas of State care, such as health facilities and prison facilities. We see a very high percentage of those in the homeless figures, anecdotally, but also in meeting them and speaking with other agencies which interface with them. Some of those individuals do not particularly like the confinement of institutional support systems, such as youth housing, hostels, etc. There are complexities around that but, as with everyone who is homeless, there are many who have complex needs. I think we have faced up to that.

I am conscious that I touched on a lot of questions before I left the meeting. I am back now but I will spend much time speaking as I would rather hear the responses of the representatives. Addressing youth homelessness was one of the key aims of the Government's Housing for All policy. It was one of its planks. As I said earlier, the Government established a youth homelessness strategy, which had 27 distinct actions. I do not know much of that overlaps the work of the organisations before us or how their work interplays with the synergies in driving forward the 27 objectives. These 27 key actions are complex, varied and important. Seeing them laid out in 27 categories crystallises the objectives and targets. The purpose is to prevent young people from entering homelessness, improve the experience of young people who are in emergency accommodation and assist young people exiting homelessness. While there is an issue with anyone being in emergency accommodation, there are particular issues with having young people in emergency accommodation.

I am conscious of a model of aftercare service in Dún Laoghaire. I do not want to mention the individual institution. It is involved in the care of children, from infants right up to the teenage years. Those involved showed great foresight more than 20 years ago when they realised they were meeting the same people coming through the care systems on the streets, both in Dún Laoghaire and Dublin city.

They set up an aftercare service. It has two full-time people. Remember, it is more than just an aftercare service. It is a link with their past and it understands their past. When a person gets to a certain stage in life he or she does not necessarily want to keep explaining his or her background or past and why they do not have the support of a normal family, if there was ever such a thing. It adds to the complexities of the issues all around that. That is an important model. I believe they struggle to get on with the job but those people do it, and do it effectively. There were many interventions, slips and recurring issues but there is a safe space and a safe place. Aftercare as a follow-on from institutional care in any shape or form is critically important.

I sat on the board of a number of prisons in this State. Therefore I am familiar with the complexities and experiences of people leaving prison services. This is a cohort of people who need interventions through an overlap or synergy with the prison services. They are vulnerable people. In many cases, we find that people released on early release plead to get back into the system because they do not want to face issues outside the door of the prison. That is a particularly important issue. The witnesses might touch on that. What is their knowledge and understanding of the youth homelessness strategy and how the organisations interplay in that?

My final point may have been covered in my absence. If so, there is no need to cover it again. In regard to the commentary on the most recent figures on the increase in family homelessness, what was the witnesses' immediate reaction to that? We always need strategic interventions. What we in this committee really need to hear is, what are the asks from the witnesses, as experts in the field, walking the ground and engaging with people? What are the strategic interventions or policies that we need to support further to address this issue?