Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

This morning the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, launched the homelessness policy statement on foot of a commitment in the programme for Government to adopt a housing-first approach to homelessness. Elements of the policy will focus in particular on a change of direction, the prevention of homelessness and the provision of good-quality accommodation in the first instance. For those already in homeless accommodation, it prioritises moving on. This is on foot of a report prepared by Professor Eoin O'Sullivan of Trinity College Dublin, who criticised the value for money obtained from the current strategy, which prioritises emergency provision.

As someone who has worked in this area for many years, I welcome this new direction. I am well aware of the value of prevention. I know from experience that once a person becomes homeless it is far more difficult to bring that person back into a home. I have met residents of emergency accommodation who have been in emergency accommodation for up to 20 years. It is high time we took the approach of prioritising the provision of homes and not the funding of bodies in beds. I call on the Leader of the House to invite the Minister of State to the House at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss the new homelessness policy statement, which is of critical importance in achieving the Government's commitment of ending long-term homelessness by 2016.