Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We should deliver the 250 to 300 Housing First places that the Peter McVerry Trust has asked for. The houses exist and should be identified and made available. Critically, the supports should also be made available. I have a personal friend who I have known since I was 12 years of age who is now homeless again. We had got him onto the Housing First system. He got himself clear of his addiction for about a year running up to that, but the supports were not in place for him. He was put into a place where there was no furniture, no beds, nothing and there was nobody around to support him. He cracked up again and now he is back on the streets. That is what happens if the supports are not provided. This issue is not just about numbers or how many emergency beds we have, it must be about the real supports and working with these human beings to provide them with accommodation that is sustainable.

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