Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The decision we made is to have a referendum to modernise our Constitution. Homelessness affects men and women alike. In fact, there are more men than women who are homeless. Homelessness affects younger people and older people. It also affects people from all sorts of walks of life. It is very much a stain on our society. It is not simply a gender issue, and that should be acknowledged. It is important to bear in mind that in some cases you will see women moving into certain homes when they become vacant. Women are coming back from abroad. I refer, for example, to nurses coming back from Australia and doctors returning from Dubai and other places. These people will be able to move back into their own homes, which is currently not possible. We will also see many of these properties going to first-time buyers. Approximately half of first-time buyers are women. There are two sides to this from a gender point of view.

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