Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. He pointed to a particular case from four years ago that tells us we have been living with this crisis, particularly with individuals sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness, for a number of years. It is why we have people like Fr. Peter McVerry, Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy and Ms Alice Leahy doing such tremendous work for too many years. There is a complexity around this and even when beds are available or when someone might even own a property, people might not be able to deal with all the complexities, even when we include all the supports. We will keep on trying but it will not always be enough. With regard to the facilities and hostels in Dublin in particular, we are rolling out new provisions and we are even replacing old facilities. There is a new facility on St. Stephen's Green run by the Peter McVerry Trust that will take over from where we lost other beds in the system. I visit a number of these facilities if I have the opportunity and the standards are excellent in those I have visited. We have spot checks and we are working with partners on quality standards in emergency accommodation. I know I tend to focus on Dublin but that is because the challenge is very great in Dublin, as we know. This is demand-led where our local authority needs support and resourcing, and it gets them. We ensure we move money in the Department around so those supports are provided where necessary. Where a local authority feels there is a gap, we will help it plug the gap. That is what the extra money is for.

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