Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The issues that have arisen surrounding the charity, Inner City Helping Homeless, need to be examined and dealt with. I understand legal processes are under way in respect of the future of the organisation. It operated outside of the scope of mainstream homelessness services provided by local authorities and voluntary NGOs, which are subject to a range of oversight arrangements and standards. That is an important point. In the context of the homelessness issue, there are many strong conventional providers and we have to be alert to new groups appearing overnight to deal with homelessness issues more generally. That has been an ongoing issue. The organisation did not receive statutory funding from the local authority for its services. Issues have been raised around the role of the Charities Regulator in this case, while the Deputy and others have raised the Garda vetting issue. There is a concern that not all of those working in homelessness services are being vetted, and the time has come to examine that issue-----

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