Vol. 564 No. 1
321 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the extent to which he has examined the cause or causes of homelessness resulting in a comparatively large number of people being homeless in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9023/03]
At national level, Homelessness, An Integrated Strategy and the homeless preventative strategy acknowledge that the causes of homelessness are complex, including social, behavioural and health problems, and that they extend beyond accommodation issues alone. The integrated strategy is providing an integrated and co-ordinated response to all of these problems. A wide range of Departments and agencies at national level and local authorities, health boards and voluntary bodies at local level are actively involved in tackling homelessness. The preventative strategy addresses the needs of people leaving institutional care, whether custodial or health related, and young people leaving care to ensure that they do not become homeless. In Dublin, the homeless agency has developed a number of initiatives to target specific groups of people such as street drinkers and drug users.
According to Counted In 2002, the joint ESRI-Homeless Agency study on the number of homeless people in Dublin, there were 2,920 homeless adults – 2,560 households – in the Dublin area in March 2002 compared to 2,900 – 2,690 households – in March 1999. This figure includes people in a range of homeless accommodation, including bed and breakfast and hostel accommodation, as well as people who reported that they were sleeping rough.
322 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has examined housing needs on a county by county basis with a view to taking specific steps to address the issue of homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9024/03]
The assessment of local authority housing need was undertaken by all local authorities in March 2002. As part of this assessment a further separate assessment of the total number of homeless people, whether seeking local authority housing or not, was also carried out by local authorities in co-operation with the voluntary housing organisations. These figures are currently being finalised and will be published shortly.
