Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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One would find it difficult to find accommodation for €850 per month in the postal codes to which I referred. Ms O'Donoghue could go online or read the Evening Herald and see this for herself. I accept that, in the final analysis, it is a political decision for the Government to recognise that people cannot spirit quality accommodation for themselves and their families out of nowhere on a shoestring. Asking them to negotiate to and fro with their landlords is an abuse of the people concerned.

I have a final point. Will Ms O'Donoghue discuss direct provision for asylum seekers? She will be aware of a case involving a woman who, having applied for supplementary welfare allowance, was unsuccessful. Her appeal was successful, yet the allowance was not paid to her. She went through the entire system and received damages as a result. Ms Emily Logan, the children's ombudsman, had much to say about this issue last week. Is Ms O'Donoghue in a position to reassure us that there are no other such cases? As the woman in question had arrived in the State prior to the 2009 legislation, she had an entitlement. It was refused and then granted but wilfully ignored. This raises a concern about the system, its decision-making structures, the culture of the organisation and the attitude of some but not all individuals within it.