Mr. Mike Allen:

We support that viewpoint. Homelessness is a multi-factoral issue and one of the things that the group asked for is a central unit that can say to various groups - whether that is the HSE, the Department of Social Protection, etc. - the following: "Hold on a minute. This is a Government target. We know that you have got other concerns over here but pay attention to this issue because it is a national and Government target that must be delivered." We believe that it is crucial to have a centralised command unit. Focus Ireland, like all of its colleagues in the homeless sector, is committed to doing everything within its power to achieve the 2016 target but whether the conditions for succeeding will be created by the rest of the actors in the sector is beyond our control.

My comment "the poor defrauding the poor" is a controversial image and some of my colleagues do not like me using the term. I meant that people are defrauding themselves. For example, people on very low incomes break a rule by topping up their rent by taking money that they are supposed to spend on food - and legislation says that it should be spent on food and other living needs - because they need to keep a roof over their head. That is a breach of their conditions for rent supplement and could result in them losing their tenancy but their alternative is a loss of tenancy. We have a good rule that is right in the heart of our anti-poverty legislation which says one cannot pay so much rent that it will leave a person with insufficient resources to provide for the needs of that person and his or her family. Every elected representative in this House knows that people are doing exactly that and it is widespread throughout the system yet no action has been taken to address the matter.

I am not sure if rent control is the elephant in the room. We are trying to name it. The nature of the argument is that one does not name it so let us name it as central to the matter. There are a number of ways one needs to go about rent control. At the moment rents fluctuate simply due to supply and demand and landlords, tenants and the State are extremely vulnerable to changes in rents. We must move to a system of rents being more based on the cost of providing accommodation rather than current market rents.