Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also express my sympathy to the family of Sally Rowlette. Anyone following the progress of the inquest will have been horrified to hear of the medical misadventure that led to her unnecessary and tragic death. I absolutely agree that it raises serious issues about staffing, particularly in Sligo General Hospital at the time. I am sure all colleagues wish to express sympathy to the family of Sally Rowlette, her husband and children in particular.

I am conscious we had a full debate on homelessness last night. We all wish the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and all the participants in today's forum on homelessness well. We all hope to see some initiatives coming from the forum, given that it is bringing together all relevant stakeholders across the four Dublin local authorities and the NGO sector. I referred yesterday to the housing association that had more than 90 units ready to open. A colleague pointed out that it calls itself a Catholic association but in fact Archbishop Martin had some difficulty when he sought to intervene. I should have said that I believe Archbishop Martin announced the opening of 30 beds in a shelter this week. It is to be hoped this sort of initiative will make an impact, especially on the sleeping rough figures that are so serious and of such concern in the light of the very tragic death of Jonathan Corrie.

This issue is not just about resources, but resources are important. As Senator Gilroy pointed out yesterday and as Councillor Dermot Lacey pointed out previously, votes were taken on Dublin City Council where the Labour and Green Party groups sought to increase the budget for homelessness through ensuring resources would continue to come through at the same level from the property tax. Of course, that was opposed by other groups on the council, including Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin. Those groups sought to make reductions in property tax rather than have extra resources available for homeless services. We need to be careful and circumspect when we are talking about resourcing. We should remember that parties that are loudly critical of failures of Government policies on homelessness have been talking a very different language at council level where it really matters in terms of targeting resources.