Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I had reason today to publish a report which indicates that the number of people presenting as homeless to services in this country has more than doubled in recent years. I understand a reference was made to me, perhaps not directly, by Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh. I will not respond to it because I was not here when it was made. I will say, however, that I am proud of the fact that this Government, in successive budgets, has protected funding for homeless services. I am proud that it has committed to ending long-term homelessness by 2016. I am proud, too, of my own role in the Government's commitment to a housing-led approach to ending homelessness, which has proved very successful in several other jurisdictions. It is important to remember that the current level of homelessness is a result of the collapse of the Irish economy, the banking sector and the construction industry. No amount of posturing by Senator Ó Clochartaigh will change that.