Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Overall I welcome the discussion. I urge Deputy Donohoe, a man in power and possibly a future Minister, the Minister of State and the Government to make homelessness a major political issue and to deliver to the people who need it. Homelessness is an issue that can be tackled with commonsense and an open mind. It is also one of the issues that can be tackled with a small amount of extra money. I accept that we have an economic crisis. If the Minister of State is short of money, as I said previously, the solution is to tax the people who have money and pay for the services for those who have not. Overall, I warmly welcome the discussion. I welcome many aspects of the legislation. I hope the Minister of State will be amenable to amendments on some of the issues I raised. I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to speak on the legislation.

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