Sharon is 66 and has just retired. Her husband John is 66 and will retire in December. They have worked all their lives and paid their taxes and they are both homeless. They were evicted because the Government lifted the eviction ban and were made homeless in August. They are relying on a day-to-day basis on the emergency telephone number and on couchsurfing with different relatives between Lucan and Wexford. Their income is over the threshold for social housing. They are in a desperate state and their story could be repeated for many older people. What will the Government do for people such as Sharon and John? They should be entitled to some kind of support to help them. They are looking for private rental accommodation but cannot get it because it is too expensive, but they cannot get any financial support from the Government to access it.

I am sorry to hear about the plight they are facing at this stage of their lives, not having a home, not knowing whether they will have a roof over their heads. I can only imagine the difficulty they are facing at the moment.

Please allow me to reiterate what we are doing. We are doing two things. First, this is why so much effort is being put into building public and social housing and we are building more homes than we have built at any point since the 1970s. Second, it is the reason that such investment has been put into our emergency housing services-----

It is a freephone number.

----- to try to support people who are at risk of becoming homeless. It is also why the housing assistance payment, HAP, is available-----

It is not available to people whose income is above the threshold.

-----to provide support. The Deputy is against the HAP anyway. That is my understanding.

No, I am not against the HAP. I am against it as a substitute for social housing.

On one hand, Deputy Boyd Barrett-----

Give them the HAP.

I have been present in the Dáil on several occasions when the Deputy has spoken against the HAP.

I am against it as a substitute for housing.

In any event, it is not my desire to politicise the plight of the two people Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to.

You just did.

It is not my desire because they want to be helped and supported and I am sure if he has any information about them, they are already getting support from their local authority. I hope they are. Housing executive bodies are in place to try to prevent people becoming homeless.

They are using the freephone number.

I hope the housing executive body is aware of the issue and is trying to help.