Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The plan brought before the House by the Minister, Deputy Kelly, included very good innovations like the night café, which guarantees that people living on the street can get tea, coffee, soup and other food. All of this is proceeding, as is the night bus to bring people to shelters with beds. A certain amount of accommodation has become available and I saw yesterday that the Archbishop of Dublin has opened new accommodation under the auspices of Crosscare. The details of the strategy were set out in the Minister's statement and a great deal of this is underway. I hope the strategy can help everyone sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin.

I lived in the city centre for a long time and I know that people in these circumstances can face very complex problems. Notwithstanding the best efforts of families, some people do not want to be with a large number of other people. I want the message to go out that beds are available if people want them but, for complex reasons, some people do not want to be with other people and we must respect this. I hope this is how ancillary facilities, like the night café, may be helpful to some people.

I commend the many people I know who have donated money and volunteered their time, concern and care for people sleeping rough. We would all like to see an end to homelessness in Dublin and a reduction in the drugs problem in Ireland in 2015 and 2016. Drugs are often, unfortunately, a major factor in homelessness.

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