A Programme for a Partnership Government stated in respect of housing and homelessness that the Government's approach to governing would be clearly seen in how those issues would be addressed. There was a count of people sleeping rough in this city last Saturday night. There were 108 men and 10 women sleeping on the streets. I was tagged in a tweet by an individual on Monday night, along with others. The tweet said that one more person could be added to that figure. The person tweeting stated it was not possible for him or her to get a bed or a mat for the night. The person went on to say that he or she was ashamed to be sleeping in doorways and his or her worst fear was now a reality. We have been told, constantly, that there is a bed for everyone that wants one. Clearly, there is not.

Can the Taoiseach stand over the statement that there is a bed for everyone who wants one? The figures and the experiences of people are not what we are being told.

I thank the Deputy for the question. We did have the latest rough sleeper count. It is down on last year but is up since the spring. As we have been planning ahead, we are putting in place emergency beds to ensure 200 new permanent beds come into the system which is more than what we need based on the count. In addition to that, there are also 130 emergency places should something happen.

When?

Those beds are being put in place at the moment. That programme has already begun because we were planning ahead knowing that, what we knew anecdotally from our outreach teams, numbers have been creeping back up again. Beds are being put in place. There is always emergency availability of a cot or other temporary measure. We will have permanent beds in place for 200 people which is more than the number recorded on the night of the recent count.