I will take a few moments to talk about an extraordinary service based in Amiens Street, Dublin - Safetynet Primary Care. It also has a homeless outreach team. The whole thing is led by a small team; Kristy, Nicola, Larry and Sinéad. Through its partnership with the likes of Tiglin and Simon, we are seeing something very powerful in action every night of the week, which is healthcare going to the most vulnerable in our society. The collaboration means that medical care, if it is combined with practical social support, including music, chiropody, bingo and everything altogether, ensures people who are experiencing homelessness can access joined-up services in just one location.

With us every day in the café on Pearse Street, we are seeing people struggling with addiction and people whose health has deteriorated because they simply cannot access mainstream services. For many of them, even walking into a GP looking for help, with the paperwork and all of that, is just not straightforward. Barriers to do with trust, language, in some cases, and simply the chaos of homelessness make that impossible, but Safetynet removes all those barriers. It brings doctors and nurses too. I know that with Tiglin, they pull up in a mobile ambulance outside with the doctors, nurses and medical support. It goes directly to the most vulnerable people where they feel safe. They are treated with dignity and compassion and without judgment.

I want to make sure that we can adapt these services to people living on the margins. We recognise that the service users we are dealing with are living in very unstable conditions or, as I mentioned, chaotic circumstances. Reducing barriers to medical care is what is making the difference.

It makes healthcare accessible to those most in need.

Last year alone, Safetynet delivered 6,000 patient consultations and medical interventions to homeless adults and children. These are some of the most marginalised people in Ireland. I see the impact every day through Tiglin. We see chronic illnesses finely managed and people being connected back into the healthcare system who would otherwise be on the margins. It is preventative healthcare at its very best.

I welcome the opportunity to show what wonderful services exist, including the likes of Safetynet, and more important, to ensure such services will continue to receive the support and be able to expand. When healthcare reaches those on the margins of society, it treats more than illness; it restores dignity and hope and increases the chance of recovery. This reflects exactly the type of society we need to build.