Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. There is currently no mechanism through which an organisation can apply for funding through or from the DRHE, and that needs to change. The Minister mentioned day services. During the pandemic and during this winter, there has been no open access homeless day service for rough sleepers operating in Dublin through funding from the DRHE. That is a big gap. There are day services like Merchants Quay, but they do not allow anyone into their premises. They provide takeaway sandwiches, which are left on the footpath, and there are no showers. That needs to be addressed. No support is offered to a person rough sleeping in Dublin who may be from Bray, Banagher or Cork.

They are deemed ineligible but it is important to remember that no one is ineligible when it comes to becoming homeless. This issue needs to be addressed. I suggest that the Minister visits the Mendicity Institution, which is not funded by the DRHE but opens late seven days a week.

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