Ms Helen Faughnan:

In response to Deputy O'Dowd, when looking at the issue of the family home and if there is accommodation in the family home, given that Ireland is facing a homelessness crisis, there has to be social responsibility for family members. If they have accommodation available to them in a family home situation my personal view is that they should provide accommodation for their son or daughter as necessary. The room to rent scheme and the tax benefits attached are a valuable incentive in this area for non-family members. Ideally, families should try to accommodate them and generally we find that is happening. It is often the case that when somebody loses accommodation, he or she is returning to family members but often accommodation can be very tight. At the moment we would not be looking to pay a supplement.