Ms Rosemarie Tobin:

The €15 million in exceptional funding given to the trust was provided with 32 conditions that were agreed with the Government. In making the recommendation to the Government to put in that €15 million, our primary concern was to protect service provision and make sure there was no interruption of services, particularly of services to the very vulnerable cohort in emergency accommodation run by the PMVT.

When the €15 million was given to the trust, we set up a second oversight group. The first oversight group had made the recommendations. We set up a second oversight group in the Department, which I chair and which had Ms Hayes representing the DHRE, had representatives of the local authority and had Mr. White representing the capital side of the Department. We met on a monthly basis and invited the PMVT to come in. Each month, we reviewed its progress against the conditions put on the €15 million. We also reviewed its cash flow and how the money was being spent in the trust to ensure the funding provided by the State was being used for its intended purpose, namely, to protect homeless services.