Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

My question to the Minister is simple. Whereas a person in the care of the homeless services retains his or her full social welfare, a person who becomes homeless between the ages of 18 and 24 does not get the full social welfare payment and, consequently, becomes trapped in homelessness because even if the person finds private rented accommodation and gets rent supplement, the person's income is so low that he or she cannot pay the rent. As a result, it becomes more difficult for the person to access work because he or she must give as an address a homeless hostel. What we are asking simply is that any young person who, at any point between the ages of 18 and 24, becomes homeless should be given the full social welfare entitlement so that he or she can get out of homelessness and can access other accommodation.

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