Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry the Minister is not here because I could say a lot about homelessness. Instead, I will give way to Fr. Peter McVerry who spoke at a conference last Friday attended by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. He captured it well when he said:

I'm absolutely dismayed at idea that the tax cuts are going to be at the top rate of tax. [...] Because basically it’s not helping people at the lower end of the wage scale. The problem of people sleeping on the street could be solved by Christmas.

This is a man we all know and respect and he is capable of dealing with the issue. If he is saying this, what is the response of the Government? We will have public private partnerships, off-balance sheet finance vehicles and special purpose vehicles in 2017. Giving Fr. Peter McVerry and other organisations the money, with the Government getting out of the way with its special funding measures in 2017, would solve the problem in a few months.

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