Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can confirm to the Deputy that it was important to engage in the recruitment process and that qualified and competent people were found to run the service to give the essential supports required for the homeless people. However, I am glad to state that, as the Deputy has outlined, this process now has been completed and the night café will be open 24 hours a day, which is important for these people. As for the beds that were provided before Christmas, I acknowledge the input of NGOs and the various stakeholders that work in this area. Additional emergency beds have been provided and, to be fair, this issue has received the highest priority across the Government, involving all Departments, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and myself. In conjunction with the NGOs the Government has provided those additional beds, and if more beds are required the Government certainly will address that as well and has committed to so doing. I also wish to note that homelessness is not just a Government issue, although it is most acute in the Dublin region. One must be conscious that other cities, such as Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway, also have homelessness issues, and arrangements are in place to provide additional emergency accommodation in order that no one is obliged to sleep rough in those cities either.

It is acknowledged that the provision of emergency accommodation is not a viable long-term solution to homelessness, and I acknowledge this point on the floor of the Chamber. This is why the efforts of the Government and of everyone must be focused on ensuring that long-term sustainable accommodation with appropriate supports is provided for those in emergency accommodation, as articulated in the Government's homelessness policy statement. The Government acknowledges that a person who is homeless also has many complex social and health needs, and it is not as simple as merely providing a bed. Social supports and the health supports also must be provided in parallel with that.

Essentially, the long-term solution to homelessness is to increase the supply of homes. Last December, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, launched the Government's social housing strategy. This six-year strategy sets out to provide 35,000 new social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion, which is a strong commitment by the Government to address long-term solutions to this extremely difficult issue for society.

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