Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 29 Feb 2000

Vol. 515 No. 3

Written Answers. - Homelessness Problem.

Ivor Callely

Question:

234 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has satisfied himself that there is no disparity in the accommodation available to homeless people or other emergency accommodation offered to other groups and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6095/00]

Ivor Callely

Question:

236 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his understanding of the accommodation offered to homeless people; the number of people accommodated nightly; the availability of this accommodation during the day and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6097/00]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 234 and 236 together.

There is a range of accommodation available for homeless people and other groups, such as asylum seekers. Hostel accommodation is the main source of accommodation for homeless persons. The description "hostel accommodation" is a broad one and includes long-term, transitional or medium-term accommodation where people can stay for varying periods and over-night accommodation vacated every day, although in some cases the same persons might come back nightly.

Information is not available in my Department on the number of people accommodated on a night by night basis. However, it is estimated that there are approximately 900 bed places available for homeless people in hostels in the Dublin city area and they are usually all occupied.

Much of the hostel accommodation which is operated by voluntary bodies has been newly built or redeveloped over the past ten years or so with the assistance of funding provided by my Department. The hostel accommodation operated directly by Dublin Corporation has either been provided in recent years, or in the case of the older accommodation redeveloped, with capital funding from my Department. Apart from consisting of individual units of accommodation, these enable residents to remain on the premises during the day and, in some cases, provide meals and-or self-catering facilities and, in some cases, laundry facilities. I am satisfied that most of the accommodation available for homeless persons is of a high quality.

In addition to the availability of hostel accommodation, bed and breakfast accommodation is also used to accommodate homeless people, where necessary.

With regard to emergency accommodation for other groups such as asylum seekers, the range of accommodation being availed of includes full board accommodation, emergency bed and breakfast accommodation and private rented accommodation. The sourcing of such accommodation is a matter for the directorate of asylum seeker services in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Ivor Callely

Question:

235 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will give details of the recoupment from the four Dublin local authorities for expenditure on accommodation for homeless people in each of the years from 1997 to 1999; the number of people accommodated in each year and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6096/00]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

The breakdown of recoupment on homelessness to the four Dublin local authorities is provided in the following table. The total figures provided include recoupment for the provision of accommodation for homeless persons and asylum seekers. A breakdown of recoupment between homeless and asylum seekers is available for 1999 but not for 1997 and 1998.

Year	Dublin Corporation			Dun Laoghaire RathdownCounty Council			Fingal County Council			South Dublin CountyCouncil
	Total£m	Homeless£m	Total£m	Homeless£m	Total£m	Homeless£m	Total£m	Homeless£m
1999	13.78	6.57	1.71	0.36	2.49	0.49	1.77	0.59
1998	13.70	N/A	2.24	N/A	1.19	N/A	2.12	N/A
1997	4.19	N/A	0.16	N/A	0.41	N/A	0.27	N/A

Detailed information on the number of people accommodated is not available in my Department.