Ms Niamh Randall:

On the gender issue, we undertook the only piece of research examining women and homelessness in Ireland. We have included a reference to the link to it in our submission. Some of its findings were really shocking. It was undertaken by Paula Mayock and colleagues in Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Mayock would be one of the international experts on the issue of women and homelessness. The research identified this cohort of women who were really vulnerable and spending long periods of time trapped in that overall cycle. They were spending time in prison, mental health services and emergency accommodation. Sometimes they were even sleeping rough. Some of the cases that were included are really horrific in terms of the experiences that they were having. Time and time again, what was key was that the exits tended to be into the private rental sector and they were not getting the support that they needed. Critically, Housing First, which is current Government policy, is housing plus support and getting that support piece is really important. The support might be support to live independently, so it might be around budgeting, living on one's own, how to set up an ESB connection and all those kinds of things. It might also be clinical support around drug and alcohol issues, mental health issues and a range of other things. It is also support around community integration, which Mr. O'Connell alluded to earlier, and about supporting people in their communities. It is about education, training and employment.

Unless we ensure that we have the housing - the supply issue is critical at the moment - and the support piece as well, people are doomed to failure and the impact of failure on individuals is huge. In terms of working with women, some of the key things are around trauma-informed care and ensuring that we work with women. There were high levels of experience of violence, sexual abuse and sexual violence and a high number of women had experienced housing instability and homelessness as children. We know that there are high numbers of children currently in homeless accommodation and emergency accommodation, so we know that damage is being done right now. Therefore, it is important to have trauma-informed responses.

If it is okay, I am happy to come back to the committee on what works well in terms of gender-specific services for women in other countries.