Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge resources are being provided but much of that is medium-term. If someone arrives at my office tomorrow morning, I cannot say to him or her there is no silver bullet. He or she will want a solution tomorrow if facing homelessness on Monday, and often that is the case. Not a day goes by that I do not have people in my office with these problems. This has been the case now for a year or more.

One of the problems is the definition of homelessness. In many cases, local authorities take it to be what was deemed as traditional homelessness - I hate to use that term. Anyway, a mindset change is needed because there is a different housing model. People are not being listed as homeless or at risk of homelessness in some local authorities because of that definition. There needs to be a change in the culture, arrangements and rights to ensure that people have a right to shelter. I am not suggesting that they should have fantastic houses in the locations they want necessarily, but the basic point is that they have a right to shelter. A change in mindset and institutional change is needed.

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