Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
631. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons in total that are homeless across the four Dublin local authority areas; the number of persons in total it is estimated are homeless across the whole State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58060/12]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office published a special Census report, Homeless Persons in Ireland, on 6 September 2012. This report indicated that 59 people were sleeping rough in the Dublin Region on Census night, 10 April 2011. The report identified that a further 2,316 people in the Dublin Region were housed in accommodation defined as emergency, transitional or long-term. Outside of Dublin the Census report indicated that 6 individuals were sleeping rough while a further 1,427 individuals were housed in accommodation defined as emergency, transitional or long-term. Of the total of 3,808 individuals included in the report, almost 60% were in long-term or transitional housing arrangements rather than in emergency facilities or sleeping rough. In December 2012, Dublin City Council reported that over 100 persons were sleeping rough on the night of the most recent count held in November 2012.
While the Dublin Region’s Outreach team works on an on-going basis to engage with all individuals sleeping rough with the specific goal of moving people into accommodation, the stubbornly high number of rough sleepers reflects the gravity of the challenge facing the Government, the voluntary sector and other agencies in tackling the homelessness problem. The problem of rough sleeping is limited outside of Dublin, with Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Galway City Councils reporting sufficient bed capacity on a nightly basis and that there is no one sleeping rough on an involuntary basis. I intend to issue a policy statement on homelessness very shortly. In this statement I will be indicating what I expect from housing authorities and other stakeholders in accelerating progress towards realising the ambition of eliminating involuntary long-term homelessness.
