Written Answers. - Young Homeless People.
Bernard Allen
Question:
68
Mr. Allen
asked the
Minister for Health
if he will make a statement on the startling statistic, which was published by the National Campaign for the Homeless, which suggests that there are at least 800 young homeless people in Ireland and also that counties Cork, Limerick and Dublin are some of the worst black-spots.
I have seen the policy document of the National Campaign for the Homeless which contains a reference of 800 homeless persons. There are two points that should be noted about this figure. The first is that it relates to people up to the age of 30 years and not just those under 18 years. The second is that it appears to include children and young persons living in hostels and in foster care who are being maintained at the expense of the State and who, therefore, could hardly be regarded as homeless.
The primary responsibility of the health boards in this area is in respect of children and youny persons up to 18 years of age. My colleague, Deputy Chris Flood, as Minister of State at my Department has initiated a wide ranging package of developments with a view to effecting substantial improvements in the availability of services and accommodation for the young homeless.
I am pleased to say that considerable progress has been made. Over 40 additional places for the young homeless are being provided in Dublin; 12 of these are already available and I expect the balance to be in place shortly. New services are also being developed in Cork, Athlone, Limerick, Galway and Sligo which will provide about 30 extra places.
Amongst the important new developments in the Eastern Health Board area are:
A new emergency hostel providing ten places for homeless girls is now in place at Sherrard House, Dublin 1;
A new therapeutic unit for eight difficult adolescents (boys and girls) operated by the Eastern Health Board near Naas, Co. Kildare will open shortly;
A new residential unit for ten boys to be operated by the Los Angeles Society is due to open in Dalkey in June 1992;
The hostel for homeless boys run by the Catholic Social Service Conference has been re-located from Percy Place to newly refurbished accommodation at Eccles Street resulting in an increase from ten to 12 in the number of places;
A new after-care service for up to four boys leaving that hostel has been established at Lennox Street.
In addition, the Eastern Health Board are taking a number of other initiatives, including:
—the establishment of an "after hours" social work service to deal exclusively with the young homeless;
—a "Carers for Young People Scheme" to provide family care for adolescents who have had difficulty adapting to other settings;
—developing other short term accommodation such as digs, sheltered flats and semi-independent living accommodation.
The problem of youth homelessness is not, of course, confined to Dublin. Discussions have been held with the Chief Executive Officers of the other health boards concerning appropriate measures to assist the young homeless in their areas. The aim is to ensure, as far as possible, that each health board is self-sufficient in residential places. This is fully in keeping with the Child Care Act and the new obligations it imposes on health boards to provide accommodation for homeless children. Progress is being made on a number of fronts:
—a new hostel for homeless youth is being established in Athlone by a voluntary group in association with the Midland Health Board;
—a new residential service for 8-10 adolescent boys is being developed near Limerick by the Mid-Western Health Board;
—additional places have been provided at Stranorlar, Co. Donegal for children and adolescents with behavioural problems;
—a new hostel for homeless youngsters is being developed in Sligo by a voluntary body with support from the North-Western Health Board.
—the building of a new residential unit for teenage boys in Cork city is now completed and will open shortly. A specialised foster care programme for difficult children is also being developed by the Southern Health Board;
—a new hostel for homeless girls is being developed in Galway by the Western Health Board in association with a local voluntary group.
As the Deputy can see from the information which I have given him this problem is being targeted by the Government for particular attention. The need for further facilities to deal with this problem is being urgently examined by the health boards in consultation with the relevant voluntary agencies in the context of the additional £2 million for child care set aside in the budget.
