Ms Mary Hayes:

I am certainly in favour of leasing and I feel the same way about HAP in a sense. I recognise all of the risks in terms of security of tenure and understand the nervousness around value for money with social housing versus leased housing but my comparison is with the cost of emergency accommodation. It is extremely important that the DRHE has as many housing options available as possible to prevent homelessness and help people to exit homelessness as quickly as possible. Any tenure that allows people to build up a life, access schools and so on is preferable to homelessness.