Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister to convey to the Minister of State with responsibility in this area that I advise caution on any commitments that will emanate from NAMA considering that 18 months ago Deputy Hogan told the House he expected up to 2,000 units would be made available from NAMA between then and now to address this issue of homeless, and those have not materialised. The Government should not place all its eggs in that basket again.

I ask for a review of the funding. When the Minister states the funding is to be retained next year at the level made available this year towards this sector, it is important that we analyse how that funding was spent and the amount of it made available to pay providers of emergency accommodation to ascertain whether there is value for money in that provision while there have not been specific targeted schemes to address the issue. There should be some pilot programmes brought to bear to see whether we can tackle this issue in a more meaningful way than has been done in the past. Grateful and all as we are, throwing money at the problem for the sake of it and funding those who provide emergency accommodation is not a solution that will bear fruit in the longer term.

Quite apart from that, my main point is to caution against a feeling that one always has the safety net of NAMA properties. As I stated, the Minister was proven wrong in that regard when a similar commitment was made of a more outlandish figure 18 months ago and it has not borne any fruit. Perhaps the House could be informed of a new approach that might bear better fruit than has been the case heretofore.

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