Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2015
551. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of agencies dealing with homelessness; the number of persons employed by these agencies; and the amount of funding provided to these agencies by the State. [8926/15]
View answerStatutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities. My Department does not fund any service directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards the operational costs of such services. Housing authorities will also provide funding from their own resources. The purposes for which housing authorities may incur expenditure in addressing homelessness are prescribed in Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988.
In 2014 my Department provided a total of €49,205,774 in funding to housing authorities under Section 10. A significant portion of the funding provided annually by my Department goes towards costs incurred by housing authorities in funding the provision of homeless services by providers such as Focus Ireland, Simon Communities of Ireland, Peter McVerry Trust, Crosscare, DePaul Trust, Salvation Army, etc. Service level agreements are in place between housing authorities and service providers in respect of homeless services funded by local authorities under Section 10. These service providers may also receive other funding through Government departments and agencies.
As part of the Action Plan to Address Homelessness, which was formalised following the special summit on Homelessness convened by me on 4 December 2014, my Department will, later this year, commission an evaluation of the homelessness sector which will examine its structures, service delivery and coordination arrangements. A copy of this action plan is available on my Department's website at the following link http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/SpecialNeeds/HomelessPeople/.
