Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I get the point on it being built into the system; but would it not provide safety, especially for rough sleepers, when the weather is at its worst, which is probably from November to February? The witnesses deal with rough sleepers on the front line and will realise that we surely need some kind of protection. The DRHE gathers data on the number of tragic deaths. The witnesses made a point on having regional authorities or executives. Down in Cork, we do not have any access to such data. The data allow us to analyse what happens. It was said that when there is a critical incident, people can be brought together to analyse it, hopefully preventing future deaths among rough sleepers.

I will bow to the delegates' greater knowledge. Protecting people at the highest risk, especially rough sleepers, when the weather is at its worst should be done, but that is just my view. I understand the point that there could be unintended consequences.

The delegates might want to comment on the scale. Do their organisations have the resources and staff to deal with it? Even if they had all the money in the world, would they have the staff to implement the policy? There are unbelievable initiatives in Cork but the scale of the problem is the issue.