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Homeless Accommodation Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 April 2014

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Questions (396, 397, 398)

Gerry Adams

Question:

396. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the context of the national directive in respect of section 10 funding for homeless and related services which has resulted in a 75% cut in funding for Dundalk women's refuge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16630/14]

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Gerry Adams

Question:

397. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form the Government funding under section 10 homeless and related services for local councils across the State for each year from 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16631/14]

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Gerry Adams

Question:

398. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form his Department’s funding for women’s refuges across the State for each year from 2009; the basis on which this funding was allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16632/14]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 396 to 398, 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 and related services rests with 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. Housing authorities provide additional funding from their own resources.

The total Section 10 funding provided by my Department to housing authorities on a regional basis for the years 2009 to 2013 , the component of that funding which was for domestic violence refuges, are set out in the tables below. The regional approach is considered more appropriate as it helps to bring a more strategic perspective to bear on action to address homelessness, including avoidance of over-concentration of homelessness services in certain centres and promoting appropriate regional availability of services, consistent with need.

Under the funding arrangements, responsibility for rigorous assessment, appraisal and decision making in relation to proposals for funding of particular services within the current budgetary allocation rests with the homelessness statutory Management Group of the respective region. My Department has no function in regard to decisions on operational matters which, in the case of the Dundalk women’s Refuge, are a matter for the North East Homelessness Management Group, with Louth County Council as the lead authority.

I recently notified housing authorities of provisional regional homelessness allocations for 2014 and these will be formalised when the protocol for the delegation of Section 10 homeless funding has been agreed between my Department and the lead housing authority in each of the 9 regions. In notifying housing authorities, I sought to encourage them to target their homelessness spending on certain categories of expenditure and indicative national targets were identified to guide authorities in framing their homeless budgets. A national expenditure target of 4.4% (or €2.2 million) was identified for domestic violence refuges in 2014.

The Homelessness Oversight Group, which I established in 2013 for the purposes of reviewing the progress of the approach being advocated in the Homelessness Policy Statement, identifying obstacles and proposing solutions has submitted its first report to me. The report, a copy of which is available on my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/SpecialNeeds/HomelessPeople/, recommended that existing funding arrangements for the provision of domestic violence refuge accommodation and services should be transferred to the new Child and Family Agency; this will be considered in the context of my Departments wider engagement with the Agency in relation to the report’s recommendations. A Homelessness Policy Implementation Team is tasked with implementing the Homelessness Oversight Group's First Report and it will report on this plan to the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy later this month and quarterly thereafter.

Funding p rovided under Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988

Region

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Dublin

€38,967,542

€40,521,375

€35,732,525

€32,398,290

€31,322,223

South East

€1,945,792

€1,742,886

€2,110,476

€1,848,877

€1,787,469

North East

€1,197,451

€1,037,617

€912,250

€910,194

€879,963

Midlands

€872,375

€666,344

€624,897

€672,027

€649,707

South West

€5,458,211

€4,270,143

€3,505,749

€4,418,967

€4,272,197

Mid-West

€4,110,166

€3,435,607

€2,905,457

€3,516,119

€3,399,336

West

€2,175,312

€1,699,288

€1,227,696

€1,581,478

€1,528,951

Mid East

€885,801

€906,842

€697,665

€839,146

€811,275

North West

€444,206

€423,355

€406,335

€360,865

€348,879

Total

€56,056,856

€54,703,457

€48,123,050

€46,545,963

€45,000,000

Funding provided under Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 in respect of domestic violence refuges

Region

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Dublin

332,080

567,447

519,402

524,975

753,305

Mid East

92,710

92,710

92,710

85,598

94,710

Midlands

175,404

49,008

49,008

49,008

46,093

Mid-West

571,657

507,609

443,561

507,609

509,193

North East

155,746

126,721

140,000

188,000

12,900

North West

23,853

23,853

23,853

23,853

41,369

South East

434,304

415,542

462,289

406,371

401,991

South West

249,635

240,864

214,303

237,242

228,083

West

153,950

134,116

106,837

134,116

152,691

Total

2,189,339

2,157,870

2,051,963

2,156,772

2,240,335

Question Nos. 399 to 401, inclusive, answered with Question No. 386.
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