John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My answer is largely the same as the previous one. I will have to get the Minister to respond directly. What I have found from talking to a number of both elected members and officials in local authorities is that the emergency response on housing during the Covid crisis has had a positive impact, by and large. I was struck by the question from Deputy Niall Collins earlier and I ask him, if he is watching the debate somewhere, to send on the information about the four families he mentioned who experienced homelessness in the midst of the crisis. The reports I have heard from throughout the country are very much that the local authorities are stepping up to the plate, in conjunction with voluntary housing bodies and other agencies involved in this area, to meet the demand for additional accommodation that the crisis presented over and above the homelessness figures that existed before Covid arrived on our shores. I will ask the Minister to revert directly to the Deputy with a response to his question.

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