It is, of course, great news, and a feather in YMCA's cap ( YMCA is one of the many organisations that help Malta's homeless, or, more truthfully, people with severe social problems) that Sir Bob Geldof is coming to Malta to participate in a concert and, presumably, also raise awareness on Malta's social rather than housing problems.

It would be a mistake to assume that YMCA works alone, that others do not work just as hard or that the homelessness problem is as big as they claim. I of course understand that their reasons for inflating figures are to raise funds for a very good cause, but I do think we need to be a little more realistic than their figures indicate, and that funds should go just as much to others who also work in this area. Their hostel has about 20 residents, we are told, and I am sure they give advice to many, but the 9,000 figure quoted by YMCA is not at remotely borne out by facts.

YMCA runs a shelter in Valletta for homeless people. The Housing Authority gave them Lm25,000 to help convert it into a decent hostel. It was also our idea to provide funding for them to pay the salary of a worker to deal with the homeless problems they face. But they do not face these problems alone.

There is also the innovative Agenzija Sapport (where we are also funding the salary of a housing worker), who help severely disabled people to live, as much as possible, in ordinary housing in the community.

The Richmond Foundation does sterling work, helping people with mental health problems to access adequate housing.

Homeless women are helped by Merhba Bik who provide an excellent service for victims of domestic violence, besides many others.

There are EU-funded projects like the one the Housing Authority is currently running, which gives kids coming out of institutes the chance to have training, a job and housing.

Homeless people are, of course, also helped by the Department of Social Housing that ensures that when people are faced with court orders and are about to be evicted, housing is found for them too.

And the Housing Authority helps a great deal because it gives cash, housing and services to all these organisations. In fact, that is as it should be because none of these organisations will be able to provide the range of housing services offered without the help of the Housing Authority.

I therefore agree with a comment made by Toni Abela that the government should be addressing these problems too. It is, also through NGOs, which is in no way a bad thing.

If this help were not there you would see homeless people on the street, which you do not, at least almost never, though there are always a few individuals who prefer to live like that, or others who spend a night out until they find out what help is on offer.

And let's be even clearer. Many of these people are homeless because of severe social problems and not because of a housing crisis per se. They have taken drugs. They have been in prison. They have spent their lives in and out of institutes. They have no family to support them. They are alcoholics, rejected by their families. They are the single mother! They have a mental illness or are experiencing a combination of many problems.

But they are not left roofless to roam the street and this needs to be emphasised.

The Housing Authority has continually supported those who provide services for homeless people. Over the years we have given accommodation, special rent subsidy and repair grants to very many organisatons that directly or indirectly help people who would otherwise be homeless but rarely roofless.

It is a very important distinction to make. We have as yet no cardboard cities in Malta and that is to the credit of successive governments and of all government agencies and NGOs that contribute. People without a roof over their head are thankfully almost non-existent though this does not mean it can't happen.

Incidentally, we are also considering how to give repair grants to the YMCA which says it is able to find small units of substandard housing for the homeless to use.

I hope the funds raised in the concert by Sir Bob will be equally spread among all those who provide a service to homeless people. I applaud the work of the YMCA and of its board and staff. They are part of a valuable chain that works very hard in this area.

I hope Sir Bob will be given a realistic picture of the situation so that funds can go where they are needed most, to help homeless people help themselves to rebuild their lives, so they can work, earn a living and pay for the dignity of their own home one day soon.

Ms Micallef is chairman of the Housing Authority.