Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The other group of workers who are being forced to consider industrial action today are the men and women who work at the front line of our homelessness services sector, funded under section 10 of the housing Acts. These are committed people who work with individuals and families who are experiencing very serious trauma, sometimes involving a combination of homelessness, addiction, mental ill health, domestic violence and other challenges. It is hard, challenging work, but the men and women who do it treat it as a vocation rather than a job. For far too long, they have been treated shabbily by the Government and underpaid. The services have not received adequate funding, just like the disability services my colleagues have talked about. The Government has abdicated its responsibility for providing services, giving it to another sector at a lower cost. That sector should be funded adequately.

I welcome yesterday's WRC agreement. It is a step in the right direction, but far more has to be done by the Government to ensure the workers, and crucially the people those workers support, get the services they deserve.

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