Ms Mary Hayes:

I am looking at the amount we spent in 2024. The overall budget was approximately €305.2 million. Of that, €270 million was spent on emergency accommodation. That is about 88% of everything we spent in 2024. We spent €201 million of that on private emergency. The balance of emergency accommodation funding went to NGOs.

On the alternative cost of emergency accommodation, I did bring the figures with me but I am happy for the Deputy to read them out. The context for us was second-hand acquisitions. The DRHE is also concerned about the families who are already in homelessness as much as we are concerned with preventing homelessness for families who are currently in private rented accommodation. I am worried about the cost of long-term homelessness. We have to weigh it up against the cost of housing. It is around the alternative cost of housing compared to emergency accommodation and not forgetting, when we think about the tenant in situ scheme, the other people who do not have these second-hand acquisitions. We have an acute need, especially in Dublin, for larger houses, including three- and four-bedroom accommodation, to meet the needs of families who are in housing long term because we do not have enough of it coming in via our pipeline in the medium term.