Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2015
871. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the €18 million shortfall of funding for homeless services; the reason this shortfall arose; his plans to meet Dublin city councillors and the Dublin City Council manager on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28934/15]
View answer€37.16 million has been allocated to the Dublin Region for 2015 in respect of costs incurred by housing authorities with regard to accommodation and related services for the homeless. This is an increase of 19% on the region’s initial allocation (of €31.32 million) in 2014 and represents over 70% of all the homelessness funding allocated by my Department to housing authorities nationally. The Dublin Region housing authorities are estimating total expenditure of €68m in 2015. While this is an increase of €12m on 2014, an amount almost €20m greater than that provided in 2014 has been requested. The bulk of the envisaged additional costs relate to emergency accommodation in hotels.
My Department has been in active discussions with Dublin City Council (as the lead authority for homelessness in the Dublin Region) in relation to these expenditure projections. The City Council is now proposing to allocate a further €5.1m from its own resources with further proportionate amounts to be provided by the other Dublin authorities. My Department will continue to engage with the Dublin authorities regarding the extent of their requirement for possible further Exchequer funding, which will be addressed towards the end of Quarter 3 in the light of expenditure actually incurred at that stage.
My Department meets with the Dublin City Council executive on a regular basis to discuss a range of housing issues, including funding and costs in relation to homelessness. I am satisfied that these meetings provide an appropriate mechanism for engagement on the issues involved but I will keep the matter under review.
