Homeless Persons Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 October 2016

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

Questions (39)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

39. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of families and persons presenting as homeless to local authorities who are refused access to emergency accommodation on the grounds that the local authority does not deem them to have a need for it; and if these data are not currently collected, if he will instruct local authorities to collect and provide these data on a monthly basis. [28703/16]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

Under the relevant legislation it is a matter for housing authorities to determine if a person is to be regarded as homeless; a housing authority will not regard someone as homeless if there is accommodation available to the person that they can reasonably be expected to occupy, or if the housing authority considers that the person is able to provide accommodation from their own resources.

The official homelessness data reports produced by housing authorities on a monthly and quarterly basis are published on my Department's website as soon as these are available and can be accessed using the following link:

http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.

While the specific data sought in the Question is not currently collected, my Department is exploring with housing authorities whether the functionality of PASS can be enhanced to produce data such as that outlined in the Question.