I also wish to acknowledge the boys in green and to congratulate them and the management on their historic victory. I also wish to recognise the fans, the girls and boys in green on the terraces. Is it not something that two Irish teams have now qualified for the final 16? Let us imagine what we will achieve when we have a single Irish soccer team.

Hear, hear.

I have no doubt that we will run rings around them all and win all around us.

Come on Tipp.

I wish to raise the issue of homelessness with the Tánaiste by telling her about Áine. She is an 18-year-old young woman and on Tuesday of this week, she presented as homeless to her local council, together with her partner and their four-month-old infant daughter. The council refused to accept she genuinely was in need of emergency accommodation and she was turned away. At 4.30 p.m. that afternoon, she rang the freefone number but no emergency accommodation was available. At 9 p.m. that evening, she again rang only to be told there still was no emergency accommodation. Eventually, at 12.30 a.m., while standing outside Heuston Station shivering and holding her infant child, she was collected by the rough sleepers team and brought to a hostel. Áine's family is just one of ten families turned away from local authorities on that Tuesday, only to be accommodated later through the rough sleepers team. The last of the families was not accommodated until 1.30 a.m. Yesterday, Áine returned to her local council, only to be turned away again. She eventually was accommodated through the freefone service at 8 p.m. As I speak, this young woman yet again is on her way back to her local authority not knowing where she and her family will sleep tonight.

The reason families are being turned away from the local authorities is because there is not enough emergency accommodation and staff members in local authorities are being asked to make an impossible choice between families, that is, between those who will have a bed and those who are sent back out onto the street. I could read out the statistics and the Tánaiste will be aware that homelessness is out of control. She will be aware that on her Government's watch, homelessness has increased by 86% in a single year. Does the Tánaiste accept that the Government's response to the family homelessness crisis to date has failed? Does she believe it is acceptable for a family to be turned away, as was Áine with her infant child, and to be left out onto the streets until the early hours of the morning? What will the Government do today, tonight, this week and this month to address the challenge faced by Áine and others? Finally, will the Tánaiste commit to publishing the Government's housing action plan and to scheduling a full Dáil debate on it before Members rise for the summer?

As the Government has stated consistently in this regard, it is not tolerable that in Ireland today, families and children such as Áine's are living in emergency accommodation or are having difficulty accessing such accommodation. That is why this issue is a priority for the Government. That is why the housing committee was established before all others and it did its work and made its report.

We are all extremely conscious of the legacy of the housing bust and we need to work every day to remedy it and especially to work directly to ensure that families are not left in the situation the Deputy describes. Many of the problems stem, as the Deputy well knows, from the chronic lack of supply of housing, which is causing knock-on problems for everyone - renters, first-time buyers and low-income households. Every possible action is being taken in the most speedy manner to ensure that families will get the housing they need. The housing committee has identified a range of initiatives. The Minister has said that he will respond to that urgently. The question of whether the Dáil will debate the report is one for the business of the Dáil committee to agree on.

We have the new Cabinet Minister with responsibility for housing, planning and local government and a reformed Department to take on these challenges. The action plan for housing will of course address the issue of homelessness. Local authorities are being given greater scope to respond more quickly to the kind of situation the Deputy has described. They have been given more funding to increase the supply of the kind of accommodation that we need. More than 220 families have secured accommodation under the homeless housing assistance payment, HAP, pilot and there is an uplift under this pilot to 50% as announced in the last budget. That has had a positive effect. The work is ongoing. The crisis is not going to be resolved overnight but the Deputy knows that it is a priority for the Government, as it is for everyone in this House, to take action to address the issue, to give as much support as possible and to provide, in the first instance, temporary accommodation to people who find themselves in the position of the woman that the Deputy has outlined.

What I know is that last month almost 4,000 people across the State were in emergency accommodation. I know and the Tánaiste knows that this includes more than 1,000 families and more than 2,000 children. What we now know is that we have a crisis in the crisis management of homelessness. It is not simply that families are in emergency accommodation, which is scandalous in itself, but in fact now the pressure is such and the crisis so deep that families cannot access emergency accommodation. I have told the Tánaiste Áine's story. She was sent to the streets. Let me emphasise that this is not the fault of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive or the local councils. As I have said, they are left in an impossible situation in which they simply do not have access to enough emergency accommodation. It is of cold comfort to Áine and others that the Tánaiste says that this is a matter of priority. I ask her to demonstrate that. What will she do now, this week and this month to address the issue of emergency accommodation in order that Áine is not similarly sent back out onto the streets tonight?

It should be noted that more than 2,000 sustainable tenancies were secured for homeless households during 2015 which allowed people to exit homelessness. That is very important. The Deputy asked me to demonstrate the Government's commitment. I believe that many of the actions already taken demonstrate that. With regard to providing more emergency accommodation, the increased funding for 2016 that has been made available and is available to local authorities means that they should be in a position to increase the availability of emergency accommodation. We know the amounts that are being spent, for example, on hotel accommodation at present. Again, it is unacceptable and we need to move as quickly as possible from this situation. That is being done.

The programme of rapid delivery housing also demonstrates the Government's intention. Five hundred units are to be provided in Dublin to accommodate homeless households currently in hotels. There is the increase in the homeless funding, as I said, as well as the implementation of a Dublin region homeless pilot for the housing assistance programme. However, I take the point that the Deputy is making. She is highlighting the need for emergency accommodation. If it needs to be increased, and clearly Áine's story that the Deputy has told suggests that it does, the Government will put and has put the funding in place to make sure that happens.