Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Boyhan is absolutely right. The major strength of the strategy is that it is more than the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with the Department talking to NGOs, coming up with a strategy and talking to those with the lived experience, to those who work in the voluntary sector and to other Government Departments. This goes beyond housing. It deals with health and many different areas, such as employment opportunities, etc.

On the SHY pilot, an in-person consultation event with other key stakeholders to further progress this action is scheduled to be held in the next two weeks. There is real momentum here and progress is being made. That is something we can continue to discuss in this House. The Senator can raise the issue again to follow through on that. All actions in the strategy are considered on an ongoing basis. The steering group will continue to meet to ensure the actions are progressed as scheduled.

The Senator can take it as a given that the Government has this matter as a top priority. It is a big challenge for us, and the strategy acknowledges that there are multiple, inter-related causes of youth homelessness and the experiences of young people in the emergency accommodation system are distinct from those of the rest of the homeless population.

This strategy was developed with the understanding that young people should be valued in their own right, and they are key drivers in achieving their own cognitive, emotional, social and economic development. The Government recognises that by supporting young people who are at risk of becoming homeless, we can help to prevent a cycle of longer-term homelessness. That is really what we all want to achieve here in reaching our longer-term goals, as the Senator outlined. I thank him for raising this important point today.