Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 April 2005
1105 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the proposals he has to meet the concerns of a person (details supplied) in County Waterford regarding the housing and homelessness crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10825/05]
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The Government is continuing to work towards ensuring that housing needs, and in particular social housing needs, are adequately addressed. The Government's strategy on housing has the overarching aim of enabling every household to have available an affordable dwelling of good quality, suited to its needs, in a good environment and, as far as possible, at the tenure of its choice. The general strategy for realising the overall policy aim is that those who can afford to do so should provide housing for themselves, with the aid of the fiscal incentives available, and that those unable to do so from their own resources would have access to social housing or income support to rent private housing. Existing legislation and funding programmes support this strategy. Consequently, the Government believes that it would be inappropriate to legislate for a specific right to housing on the basis that the funding commitment to the various housing programmes is leading to increased outputs and that decisions on the allocation of financial resources are a matter for the democratically accountable Government.
Within the current legislative framework, the Government has been able to place a strong focus on assisting homeless households in recent years. According to the assessment of housing need carried out by local authorities in March 2002, there were a total of 3,773 homeless households in the country at the time of assessment compared to 3,743 households in 1999. The vast majority of these were in homeless accommodation ranging from emergency to long-term supported housing rather than on the streets.
As part of the Government's homeless strategy, local authorities, together with the Health Service Executive and other statutory and voluntary bodies, are required to draw up local action plans to tackle homelessness. These plans are now being implemented under the aegis of the local homeless fora and significant progress is being made in meeting the accommodation and care needs of homeless persons. A wide range of additional accommodation has been provided, ranging from emergency night shelter to long-term sheltered accommodation, to enable homeless persons move out of emergency accommodation into long-term accommodation that is more suited to their needs. Increased levels of day care facilities as well as specific provisions to meet the needs of people with addiction problems or who are sleeping rough as well as homeless offenders have been put in place. Further facilities will be provided as part of the full implementation of the homeless action plans.
While the emphasis to date has been on the provision of emergency accommodation, the focus is now shifting to the provision of long-term accommodation and the supports required to meet the non-accommodation needs of homeless persons. This aspect will be addressed in the context of the Department's social housing programmes in future years.
Substantial additional funding has been made available to support the implementation of the homeless strategies. Capital funding for the direct provision by local authorities of accommodation for homeless persons is being doubled from €25.4 million to €50.8 million during the period 2001-05. Funding continues to be made available to the voluntary sector for the provision of accommodation for homeless persons under the Department's capital assistance scheme.
Current funding provided by my Department for accommodation related homeless services has increased substantially from €12.6 million in 2000 to €51 million this year. This brings the total provision since 2000 to €236 million. Substantial funding is also provided via the Department of Health and Children to meet the care and support needs of homeless persons. An independent review of the operation of the homeless strategies and action plans is underway. I anticipate that the draft outcome of the review will be available around the end of May.
In addition to homelessness, the Government has been very conscious of the need to address a broad spectrum of housing need. Over €2 billion will be spent in 2005 on a range of targeted housing measures. This is double the level of investment in 2000. It is anticipated that existing social and affordable housing measures will assist approximately 15,000 to 16,000 households in 2005, including households assisted through the new rental accommodation scheme. Resources are also being used to improve the living environment of existing tenants of social rented accommodation and to adapt homes of people with special housing needs in owner occupied housing. Recently introduced five-year action plans for social and affordable housing prepared by local authorities at city-county level will ensure that these resources are used effectively to provide the optimum level of quality housing in a manner which breaks cycles of dependency and disadvantage.
