John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for the response. I also thank him for noting that we need to develop solutions to make sure that we can reduce this bill as we go forward. It is a very necessary but, unfortunately, very high bill. The figure of €385 million is quite startling but it is very necessary. Of all the problems we have in housing, and many of them have been discussed this morning, the one that causes me most concern is the level of homelessness, particularly the number of homeless children in our society. Outside of Dublin, the west region has the highest number of homeless children. In the west region there are 28 families that have been in emergency accommodation for two years. There is no other region outside of Dublin that is comparable. The figures in every other region are in single digits but there are 28 families in the west region. That is very concerning. It is not simply the lack of shelter but the long-term impact for those children of homelessness. We are well used to hearing the well-worn phrase that it takes a village to rear a child but these children are not part of a community. They are in emergency accommodation which is short term and it may not be somewhere that they will be for a long time. It is crucial that we challenge this.

I have another query about the organisation of homeless services.

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