Homeless Persons Data

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Questions (498, 499, 500)

Robert Dowds

Question:

498. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons known to be homeless here at present. [7865/14]

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Robert Dowds

Question:

499. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the cost to the State of housing homeless persons in hotels. [7871/14]

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500. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to tackle the housing crisis, specifically homelessness, and to build more social housing. [7873/14]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government

I propose to take Questions Nos. 498 to 500, inclusive, together.

My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with the housing authorities. The purposes for which housing authorities may incur expenditure in addressing homelessness are prescribed in Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988.

My Department does not fund any service directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards the operational costs of homeless accommodation and related services under Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988. Payments made by my Department under Section 10 generally equate to 90% of costs incurred by housing authorities and these authorities provide at least 10% of the cost of such services from their own resources. Housing authorities may incur additional expenditure on homeless related services which supplements funding by my Department and other agencies including the Health Service Executive.

While it is clear that a proportion of funding must be used to provide sufficient bed capacity to accommodate those in need of emergency accommodation it is equally important that resources are channelled to deliver more permanent responses in a more focused and strategic way.

Details of expenditure on emergency accommodation by each of the 9 regions for the years 2009 to 2012 are presented in the table; anticipated outturn figures are provided for 2013 and the finalised figures are expected shortly.

Region	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013 - (anticipated)
Dublin	€24,397,869	€23,812,112	€20,637,019	€21,480,711	€23,211,421
Mid-East	€647,482	€706,131	€603,815	€596,284	€661,507
Mid-West	€3,272,105	€2,709,591	€2,277,486	€2,819,672	€2,623,927
Midland	€620,262	€489,697	€496,310	€500,507	€484,662
North-East	€1,254,284	€987,344	€1,010,497	€957,606	€607,462
North-West	€170,973	€168,483	€174,608	€151,224	€137,764
South-East	€1,331,020	€1,267,039	€1,435,474	€1,328,768	€845,267
South-West	€2,207,807	€1,871,783	€1,535,326	€1,837,284	€1,554,756
West	€1,022,715	€793,305	€574,106	€753,565	€610,888
Total	€34,924,518	€32,805,484	€28,744,640	€30,425,621	€30,737,655

Traditionally it has been difficult to quantify the number of homeless persons on an on-going basis; this is in part a consequence of the volatility within this cohort of housing need. The Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS) was extended nationally in 2013 and is now operational nationwide. PASS will assist housing authorities to report on the dynamics of homelessness as it is addressed and 2014 will be the first year for which PASS will produce composite national data. These reports will be published on my Department's website as soon as they are available. In advance of the composite national data on homelessness to be available through PASS, the most complete set of data available in relation to homelessness nationally is the Central Statistics Office’s special Census report, Homeless Persons in Ireland, which was published on 6 September 2012. This report indicated that a total of 64 individuals were sleeping rough on Census night, 10 April 2011, while identifying a further 3,744 people as 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. This report is available on CSO's website, www.cso.ie.

In February 2013, I published the Government’s Homelessness Policy Statement in which the Government's aim to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016 was outlined. The statement emphasises a housing-led approach which is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. The availability and supply of secure, affordable and adequate housing is essential in ensuring sustainable tenancies and ending long-term homelessness.

The Homelessness Oversight Group, which I established in 2013 for the purposes of reviewing the progress of the approach being advocated in the statement, identifying obstacles and proposing solutions has submitted its first report to me. The report considered information on the homeless population, emergency and other accommodation as well as housing supply issues. I am considering this report and its recommendations and I will consult with my Government colleagues on the implementation of these recommendations, as appropriate. A copy of this report is available on my Department's website, www.environ.ie.