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

It is not possible to model that accurately. People in emergency accommodation are there for all sorts of reasons. The biggest reason in the past six months was family breakdowns and non-citizen families presenting for emergency accommodation. There is no way of predicting how many people will experience family breakdown or how many will apply for emergency accommodation. That is why modelling in this regard cannot exist. It is not that it does not exist; it cannot exist. It would only be a guesstimate, and not a good one.

As I told Deputy McDonald, in the past year, 50,000 families found new places to rent, leading to new tenancies being created. We anticipate about 50,000 new tenancies again this year. The vast majority of people who are served notices to quit will find alternative accommodation of various forms. Emergency accommodation is not the solution; it is just a backstop.

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