Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Nobody doubts the work of the voluntary sector or the staff in councils or the Minister's own Department. I am simply saying that it is exactly the trends that matter. The overall trend is that the numbers of adults, children and families who are experiencing homelessness are up. The Minister is trying to put a positive spin on it to say that in Dublin for two months in a row the number of families has decreased. The Minister is right. It decreased by 32 families from July to August and by eight families from August to September. I welcome that decrease. The total number of children, however, who will sleep in emergency accommodation tonight in this city is more than it was one month ago. What is not working? The Minister's approach and the policies of his Government are not working.

On the principal question, it is my understanding that the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government has had the report from the Dublin regional homeless executive for three to four weeks. Will the Minister confirm that he has got it? Will he also indicate when he might be in a position to answer the questions about when this vital service to inspect commercial and non-commercial emergency accommodation will be set up?

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