Politicians should donate tax-free expenses to a homeless charity

While it is right that the abject failure of Irish governments, especially this one, to tackle homelessness should be highlighted it is also important to remember it wasn’t just the other evening the State failed one of its citizens.

Jonathan Corrie, who died almost at the gates of Leinster House, wasn’t born homeless, or with drug and alcohol problems.

However, you don’t end up in such a situation by accident and it is likely his own family background was sufficiently dysfunctional, having themselves been failed by the State, to provide the support framework within which they could raise a child to be emotionally strong enough to deal with the genetic burden of addiction.