John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. It would be remiss of us not to express our condolences on the deaths of two homeless people on the streets of the capital city over the past 24 hours. I do not think anybody really wants to be homeless. The provision of a payment is an essential tool in trying to help people to get off the streets. We need to put money directly into people's pockets. There is an element of discrimination here. The Minister mentioned that specific provision has been made for homeless people in Dublin to access social welfare payments, but such provision is not being made in any other part of the State. Homeless people in 25 counties cannot access minimum or basic social welfare payments. I ask the Minister to explain the discrimination or discrepancy that seems to exist in this regard.

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