Ms Niamh Randall:

I will take a stab at some of the bits and pieces.

To come back to Deputy Coppinger's questions, first and foremost, on the allocations piece, we were suggesting this would refer to people who have been homeless for six months or more, which is those who were homeless prior to December 2015. That would be in place to prevent the possibility that people might make themselves homeless as a result. It would be a point-in-time thing only. We are aware there are people all around the country who are living in awful conditions, where they have to share overcrowded accommodation and so on. We are prioritising need by focusing on whole families that are trapped in hotel rooms and grown adults sharing dormitory-style accommodation. While this is very much a point-in-time thing, it has to be part of a number of measures to stem the flow of people becoming homeless, such as measures around rent certainty, increases in rent supplement and HAP, and around increasing security of tenure for those in the private rented sector. We need to stop the flow of people becoming homeless. If we can do that, and if we can look at mechanisms to deal with those people who are currently stuck in emergency accommodation - and do that quickly - we can limit the impact and the damage. We know the impact on people's health and well-being in terms of the trauma and stress they suffer. The longer people are stuck in situations such as that, the more support they will need to live independently in the longer term.

The Deputy raised the issue of the social housing strategy. We believe there should be much more ambitious targets in respect of local authorities building and delivering social housing. We have concerns about the over-reliance on the private sector to deliver in this regard. The proposal that 75,000 units would come from the private rented sector is not sustainable in any way, particularly in light of the current position of that sector. Therefore, we would absolutely encourage local authorities to build and deliver housing, and we see their role as being the primary one. The approved housing bodies do have a role, however, particularly with regard to partnerships between local authorities and approved housing bodies in some situations. Mr. Dermot Kavanagh may speak about the situation pertaining to the local authorities and housing in the south east, which might provide an example of what we are talking about in this regard.

With regard to the treatment piece, we know drug and alcohol use can be a cause of people becoming homeless. It is obviously important for people to have access to treatment, rehabilitation, support and after-care, and important they have accommodation to go to after they have entered treatment. The Housing First model is clearly predicated on having no conditionality. The important thing is that it is not "treatment first" because it is very much the case that once people are in a more secure and settled home, the impact on their drug and alcohol use is quite significant. We know the highest levels of drug use and risk behaviour are seen among people who are rough sleeping, staying in squats or staying in emergency accommodation. Once people are in a more stable housing environment, this often gives them the opportunity to reflect on their drug or alcohol use. If that support is being provided, people can be referred on to treatment services. We need a greater interface and connectivity between the national drugs strategy, the mental health strategy, the mental health services and the physical health services to ensure we are providing what people need.

With regard to capacity at a community level, I will ask my colleagues to come back to Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan on that. I also saw the rapid-build units and I was very impressed by them. I am not sure what happened in regard to the delays or in regard to the costs becoming greater and greater. I know they had been much more reasonably priced, so I am not sure what happened.

The cost-rental model is a commitment in the social housing strategy. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government has developed the cost-rental model and our argument is that we need to get it out there to see if it will work. The big thing is making it more affordable, not only for people in receipt of social protection payments but also for those on low incomes.