I agree with the comments on the Committee on Drugs Use's report. I acknowledge the work that everyone has done on that. As Senator Black said, Senator Ruane's fingerprints are all over it, and it is the better for that. It is important to ensure that we have a health-led drugs policy.

On Monday, the housing Minister, Deputy Browne, made particularly bleak commentary on the housing issue. He said he had no idea when homeless numbers might finally begin to fall. He also said that he did not know if the Government's housing policies were doing anything to get people out of homelessness. That was a pretty bleak statement to make. He also admitted that the number of people was still increasing and, at best, would only stagnate in the near future rather than decrease. This is an acknowledgement of failure by the Government, yet there is no sense that there will be any change to the plan and process. In many ways, it is normalising failure around housing and effectively throwing in the towel. When you think about it, there are 18,000 people on the homeless list in what is a wealthy country. That is shameful, and we need to do better. How many times have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael claimed that they will solve the housing crisis? The Minister has effectively thrown in the towel and acknowledged that he will not be able to solve the housing crisis. How many times have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael housing Ministers stood up and said that they will make progress on ending homelessness and bring down housing waiting lists? There are nearly 18,000 homeless people in this State, and that number is increasing every single month.

It is shameful. We need the Minister to come to the House and explain how he is going to change policy in order to make a difference to people's lives and end homelessness.