Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

——provides a very refined and comprehensive method of measuring homelessness. It indicates there were 110 sleeping rough, down 40% on the figure for 2005, and less than 5% of the figure used by Deputy Lynch. Of course, this is 110 persons too many. That is why Departments and agencies are working to eliminate the need to sleep rough and long-term homelessness. Those are the key aims of the strategy on homelessness. This blatant twisting of statistics does nothing to advance these aims.

With regard to the overall net need figure published for the 2008 housing needs assessment, it is unclear how Deputies have managed to concoct the charge that we massaged figures when an increase of 30% in the number of households in need was reported. Surely massaging the figures would have yielded a better result.

As usual, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, rather than engaging in a serious discussion on the issue, went straight to wild accusation. Had the Deputy actually read the needs assessment guidelines given to local authorities——

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