Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 May 2024
182. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the direction his Department has given local authorities in respect of providing homeless services to persons who may be in arrears with their local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20065/24]
View answerMy Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the statutory role of local authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of emergency accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities.
Under the Housing Act 1988 it is a matter for each local authority to determine whether a person is regarded as homeless; section 2 of the Act sets out the requirements in this regard. When a household has been assessed as homeless, section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 provides that a local authority may provide accommodation and related services to that household.
Decisions on the assessment of households for homeless services, the most appropriate form of such support, and the allocation of that support are a matter for the local authority concerned.
