Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The issue of children and young people who are homeless is identified in the programme for Government. There is a commitment to bring forward a strategy in this regard. That will be led by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage but my Department will also be feeding into it. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I have met on that issue once already and we will seek to do so again. The work being done between our two Departments can be knit into the child guarantee and the successor to the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures strategy, which looks at matters through a wider lens. I do not believe the child guarantee specifically focuses on homelessness but I can come back to the Deputy on that. That is not to say we will not address the absolutely crucial issue of homelessness among children and young people.

I got a really interesting paper from Focus Ireland with regard to young LGBT+ people and their particular vulnerability to homelessness. They may encounter particular situations which other sectors of the population may not. The Deputy also made reference to migrant homelessness. There are very specific issues in respect of different vulnerable populations, which may require tailored solutions.

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