James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy well knows, housing is an issue for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which received a separate budget. My Department has a budget to support children who are at risk.

The Child and Family Agency has a specific team that engages with homelessness services to seek to ensure there are no child protection risks and action is taken if such risks arise. The Deputy spoke about "words", but I remind him that the deeds which have been done in the Acts passed in this House - I refer, for example, to the removal of the words "reasonable chastisement" - are not platitudes; they are real actions that will have an impact on the reality of children's lives.

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