Mr. Wayne Stanley:

I am not clear about the motivation. What stands out for me are the questions “Why this?” and “Why now?” The circular is in place, for all the problems that it causes. We are talking here about solidifying the current circular as opposed to addressing the issues that we have all been raising here. The Simon Community proposed a Homeless Prevention Bill, which many of the people in this room supported. It could come forward now. Given the crisis we are in, I am not fully clear about why this issue is becoming so important and why the Bill is being brought forward so swiftly and, it appears, without the level of consultation we might often see. We work quite closely with the Department and there are very good people in there, as there are in local authorities. I would be slow to put negative connotations on this but I do not think the consequences have been thought through.