Mr. Dermot Kavanagh:

I wish to respond to Deputy Ó Broin's comments on the 100% allocations. That is absolutely the point. It is not a silver bullet. It would be primarily of use to families who are stuck in homeless accommodation. There are other possible solutions for single people. In Cork, working with Focus Ireland, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Threshold, we established Cork Rentals, which was the social rental model, where we stood between the landlord and the tenant. Initially, the purpose was to allow us rent the place at the rent allowance level, pay the landlord the market rent but also remove some of the perceived risk from landlords in terms of working with people who have complex issues, so we would deal with rent arrears, issues regarding tenancy management and so on. That was successful in getting a number of places. We have approximately a dozen currently, which primarily went to long-term homeless people. Between those and the other houses we have we managed to reduce long-term homelessness in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Last year, houses in the private sector dried up even further. There is still some mileage in the social rental model but it will involve, for instance, requiring people to be first in the queue when a place becomes available. They must make a decision quickly. They have to have the deposit with them and be willing to pay it and they have to make a good offer to landlords. There is a good deal of excellent practice on this area from which we can learn, not only in Ireland but further afield. Sometimes one can get ahead by agreeing to pay a bigger up-front payment, and that type of flexibility is essential.

Another point I would make is about the single homeless group. Many of them have dependants who are not with them.

In terms of the pathway back towards integration, one would hope that there would be a route towards access visits and tenants would have, perhaps, two-bedroom accommodation to meet that need.

The vacancy rate is another issue. There are 6,000 empty flats and apartments in Cork and 48,000 in greater Dublin. Those could probably be brought into the system quicker than anything else but the point I would make is that whatever housing becomes available, whether it is through an increased allocation from the city councils, whether it is from other social housing providers, whether it is through being first in the queue with the best offer in the private rented sector or whether it is through new building and developments, one should target it at those homeless longest and that way one will have the maximum impact in freeing up emergency beds and getting the homeless off the streets. That is the Cork view.