Vol. 452 No. 2
25 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment the plans, if any, he has to tackle the problems of homelessness; if emergency bed and breakfast accommodation will be increasingly used as a solution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5301/95]
Measures already taken to improve the accommodation position of homeless persons include the expansion of the local authority house building programme; the provision of increased capital funding for voluntary bodies providing housing accommodation, a substantial part of which has been for homeless persons; the increase from 80 per cent to 90 per cent in the level of recoupment by my Department to local authorities in respect of expenditure under section 10 of the Housing Act, 1988, on accommodation for homeless persons; the provision at Lower Grangegorman, Dublin, of an emergency hostel now operated by the Salvation Army; and the introduction of an afterhours referral service for homeless persons in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow seeking accommodation outside normal opening hours.
A recent report by the Eastern Health Board showed a significant increase in the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless persons in the Dublin area in 1994 compared with 1993. I have already expressed concern at the extent of the increased usage of this form of accommodation. I consider that it should be used to the minimum extent possible as a means of accommodating homeless persons, and then only as a short term solution pending the provision of permanent accommodation.
