Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

The definition of homelessness must be looked at in a number of ways. Many people associate homelessness with people who sleep rough on the streets in the capital and in other centres of population. The focus of the strategy is, of course, on that category to ensure that nobody would be obliged to sleep rough. It also focuses on the other category, people who are in temporary accommodation for a long time, ranging from six months to seven or eight years. There is another category of people whom it is probably unfair to categorise as homeless, that is, people who are in assisted living accommodation. They are not capable of living by themselves and probably will not be in the future. It is unfair and somewhat discriminatory to describe them as homeless. They should be identified as people who are living, if the accommodation is suitable, where they will live into the future through assisted living.

With regard to the strategy, I have made it clear to the housing authorities, approved bodies and others that the strategy should be their aspiration. Recall what happened in January this year. I am proud that the local authorities, approved bodies, outreach people and all others involved ensured that no homeless person in this country lost their life during the cold period and that nobody had to sleep rough. That was a great compliment to everybody involved. Across the water some 30 people died during the cold spell while hundreds died across Europe. Recently, I allocated a further €60 million towards acquiring 430 units. A total of 100 of those units are specifically identified for the homeless.

On the statistics-----

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