Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

With regard to the point made by Deputy Barrett, I cannot deal with that matter under this amendment. On the issue of homelessness, rather than getting bogged down in the semantics of how homelessness is defined, providing a consistent basis for the practical implementation of the definition across local authority areas is a more meaningful approach in terms of delivering the necessary supports for homeless people. We have made it clear in the homeless strategy and in the course of our engagement with representatives of service providers in the MakeRoom alliance that we will be reviewing the application of the definition. I have outlined my reasons for not accepting the amendments and on that basis I ask the Deputies to withdraw them.

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