James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I again thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of homelessness and especially child homelessness. I will continue to engage with him. I will meet the two Galway local authorities in the coming weeks. I will head to Galway to meet both the city and county councils. Homelessness is a national issue but it has regional variations in terms of both causation and how we address the particular issues. I am aware of the Deputy's data that shows that area is having particular challenges outside the Dublin region, so I want to engage with the local authorities. The staffing will remain under review, but we want to ensure the supports are being put in place to ensure we can prevent people going into homelessness in the first place and that where it happens people are transitioned back out of homelessness as quickly as possible.

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