Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Did the Tánaiste see the RTE "Prime Time" programme last night about homeless people? If not, I recommend that he take a look at it. The programme showed that seven homeless persons died in this city over Easter. It showed the reporter on the programme trying to make telephone contact with the 24-hour emergency homeless service. He started ringing it at 10 p.m. but did not get through until after midnight and was then told there was no bed available. The programme went on to explain that a number of facilities which have been built and provided with public money are either not open or are operating under capacity, because the money has not been provided to staff them. The programme gave an example of a 30-bed unit on James's Street that was built for €7 million but which is not yet open because the money has not been provided for staffing. It showed that in Cork Street, only half of the 23 units designed for families are in use. Only seven of the 17 units in Brunswick Street are in use, while a facility on Abbey Street for homeless people congregating on the river boardwalk is not functioning.

I raised this very issue with the Tánaiste on 28 February, when I drew his attention to reports at the time that cutbacks by the HSE would result in facilities for homeless people not being made available. The Tánaiste told me at the time that there were no cutbacks in existing services and there would be no cutbacks in new services. Following last night's programme, does he now accept that there are in fact cutbacks? Does he accept that these services are not operating? When will these services for homeless people be fully operational and when will the money necessary to staff them be provided?

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