I am delighted there was a such a useful debate last night on homelessness and I commend Senator Gerard P. Craughwell for raising the matter. As Senator Ivana Bacik said, the best thing we can all do is wish that constructive proposals will be made that can be put into action arising out of the meeting later in which the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government will be involved. We will keep an eye on the issue and we can revert to it next week, if necessary.

Senator Ivana Bacik also touched on another important matter. Two key elements in our society and economy are jobs and housing and, thankfully, the provision of both is increasing. The number of jobs is increasing at a great rate and the number of people unemployed continues to fall.

There are still 110,000 long-term unemployed.

All the people who have taken up jobs are adding greatly to our economic recovery. I acknowledge we have a long way to go, but we are going in the right direction and I welcome very much the initiatives on housing by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

A total of 800 children are homeless.

Senator Paul Coghlan to continue, without interruption.

That will mean more construction jobs and so on, which will aid the economic recovery further. We have to be patient for a little while.

My good friend, Senator Paschal Mooney, referred to an opinion poll today. He should remember these polls, which are published frequently, are merely snapshots on a particular day. He does not know if all the people consulted will even vote in a general election, whenever that is held. As Harold Wilson once famously said, it is about "the Pound in your pocket." In our case, it would be the euro. There is no doubt that the Government's aims on tax and other initiatives will improve the lot of every citizen and that will be appreciated more and more as time passes.

I was present, like others, for the two-hour debate yesterday evening with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and his Minister of State. Excellent suggestions were made on all sides of the House. Fianna Fáil proposed that we would raise the issue during the first week of the session in the new year in order that the Minister can update us on what progress has been made on housing those who need emergency accommodation. Other issues were raised during the debate, which will take longer to deal with, for example, the supports that can be offered to people before they find themselves homeless, and they are worth considering. It was an enlightening debate and I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to return to the House during the first week following the Christmas recess to update us on what progress has been made in this regard.

Like Senator Gerard P. Craughwell, I call on the Leader to invite the Minister for Education and Skills to the House. January is fast approaching and teachers intend to strike again if progress is not made on the reform of the junior certificate programme. Will the Leader use his good offices to bring the Minister to the House to ensure we have an open debate on how progress could be made in this regard and to avoid 350,000 students being subjected to another one-day strike in January?