Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Some comments have been reported. I will single out some of them and Mr. Skehan may comment on them when I am finished. I understand he has given a series of interviews. He targeted homelessness charities and said there were too many of them. There is due process here and I would like Mr. Skehan to correct me when I am finished if I am wrong. He referred to the Apollo House activists as misguided. Why does he believe that? Does he still believe that?

Mr. Skehan said the homelessness crisis is normal. This is my understanding of his commentary. I have read and played back some of his commentary, and this is what I have taken from it. He said people are gaming the system and declaring themselves homeless to be prioritised on the housing list. That may or may not be the case. I am not disputing it but I just want to tease it out with him. He might also refer to Government policy. A certain amount of Government policy stated the homeless were to be prioritised and that there were to be quotas in each of the local authorities. Many people found the phrase "gaming the system" very offensive. Many discussed this with me and said they found it exceptionally offensive that somebody with Mr. Skehan's responsibility was saying people were gaming the system. When did it come to his attention that people were gaming the system? If he believed that, what did he do about it? In some ways Mr. Skehan's name became a byword for the idea — this is important — that there is official indifference to the human cost of homelessness. That is what some people thought.

I want to pass on what I picked out of the commentary. I found Mr. Skehan's remarks offensive. I am not without a home. I met people who are homeless, people in hospitals and people who worked in the sector, and they found the comments offensive, particularly given Mr. Skehan's position. Will he clarify whether he made the comments? If he did, he clearly gave a lot of thought to them. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Skehan and have attended conferences that he addressed, so I believe he would have given some thought to his comments. Does he still stand over them? If so, is he fit to stay in office at this juncture? That is a view of mine on which I would like him to respond. Did the current Minister summon him and express concern over the comments he made?