Ms Nuala Ward:

Just in relation to the question on child homelessness as a national scandal, it is actually a national shame. We should all feel deeply shameful that we have children in this country growing up, not just for a few months, but growing up in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels. We are paying State money to private providers for this type of accommodation and it is having a devastating impact on children. While we can talk about numbers, we have to remember that we have heard directly from children who are sitting in bathrooms when their mammy is trying to put their baby sister to sleep in the bed that they are all sharing. They are reading their books, trying to be quiet. We have children who are devastated because their pet dog or hamster is not allowed in the family hub and they have had to leave them behind with their granny or their aunty. Imagine that. The most important point that we have heard repeatedly from children is around shame. I am not sure if anybody here has grown up in any state of poverty or can remember being deeply ashamed of not having something or knowing that you are poor or different, that there is something different about you relative to your peers. That shame does not leave people. That shame does not leave and that is what we are doing to children. Should there be a redress scheme? Can we give children back their childhood? No, we cannot. That would be our view on that.