Ms Mary Hayes:

I thank the Senator for his work in this area. It is well recognised. Regarding the Senator's question on the partnership, we would hate to see a situation where it is just local authorities working in this area. The partnership of the HSE is critical for us because there is an understanding that yes, it is housing, but it is housing with supports, in some cases. Not everybody needs them but there are those who do.

Housing first is still there. It has not grown this year because we are waiting to go through a tendering process with the Housing Agency. Coming out the other side of that, we will have a well-supported and well-funded housing first team. They will work with chronic rough sleepers and those who are in long-term hostel accommodation. There have been improvements. The NGO staff were always acutely aware of and were resourced to work with people with in the areas of addiction and mental health. We have had much more buy-in, particularly from the HSE, in relation to the private emergency accommodation and being able to get specialised staff to go in and visit people. For me, it is about accessibility. We see this with the work of Safetynet Primary Care, for example. These are people who will come out with us to work with the outreach teams on the streets. This is critically important for me and I love to see when a service is willing to be that flexible and accessible.