Mr. Pat Doyle:

Yes, I will refer briefly to two issues, the first of which relates to older people. The Peter McVerry Trust has housed a number of older people of late. As Fr. McVerry pointed out, there are no major stumbling blocks to older people living independently. They need access to housing and the Housing First model is a very good model for achieving this outcome. The individuals in question do not need a large number of wrap-around supports. For example, we recently housed a 60 year old woman who moved into private rented accommodation after her marriage broke down and the family home was sold. The small amount of money she received from the sale of the house was used to supplement the rent she had to pay on a property. Although she had a job, she clearly could not afford the rent and she became homeless when her money ran out. We successfully housed her and she received significant assistance from us in the first week in her new home. She is now living independently, however, and has been given a telephone number at which she can contact us 24 hours per day. A large cohort of people, especially in this older age group, are in a similar position in that they need initial support to access accommodation when a property is sold or one partner needs to remain in the family home when a marriage breaks down.

As Fr. McVerry stated, while the resettlement scheme is small, we had two successful resettlement cases recently, one in County Cavan and one in County Offaly. In one case, two single homeless people who got on well, having met in homeless accommodation, decided they wanted a fresh start outside the capital. They are now in third level education in County Cavan or County Louth and are getting on grand. Another young couple moved to County Offaly. The major challenge for us will be to secure employment for them as this can be a major problem in some towns. If we can find them employment, they will hold their accommodation and settle well in County Offaly.