James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

With our new housing plan, we are developing the homelessness prevention framework. Significant work has been ongoing in relation to that, working with all the NGOs. I acknowledge the good work by Focus Ireland and the Simon Communities of Ireland. When I became Minister for housing, the first thing I did was visit all of the homeless organisations at their sites to get the necessary information. They have been front and centre of everything I have been doing for the past eight months, including meeting on a regular basis through the National Homeless Action Committee, working together to ensure homelessness is reduced.

My focus is absolutely on reducing that homeless number. It will be done through a number of different measures, including delivering on social housing, but also for those who are entering into homelessness, preventions, exits out as quickly as possible and working with people in emergency accommodation. I have outlined some of what we are in the middle of doing. Our homeless prevention framework, worked out with our NGOs, will also be published very soon.

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