Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 November 2018
63. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the additional measures that can be put in place on a permanent basis to ensure that all persons sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough have access to safe, secure, accessible and appropriate emergency accommodation in view of the recent tragic deaths on streets of persons engaged with homeless services. [47335/18]
View answerAs the Minister knows, the media widely reported two deaths this month of individuals who were accessing homelessness services and had a history of sleeping rough. We do not know the full details of the deaths and it would be wrong for any of us in the House to try to politicise it. Is this a matter of concern? Does the Minister feel there might be gaps in our emergency response to rough sleeping that could be looked at, with additional provision in trying to reduce the possibility of further deaths?
I thank the Deputy for the question. The death of any person sleeping rough on our streets is a tragedy and our sympathies go to the families who have lost loved ones in this way most recently and over the past number of years as each death occurred.
Supporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness is an absolute priority for this Government. Budget 2019 reflects this commitment by allocating an additional €30 million for the provision of homelessness services in 2019. This will increase the total budget available to local authorities to €146 million, a 26% increase on the provision for 2018. Budget 2019 also provides for an additional €60 million in capital funding for the provision of emergency accommodation, which will deliver further emergency facilities for single adults and additional family hubs to support families experiencing homelessness.
Providing additional accommodation for rough sleepers is essential. In September, I wrote to the chief executives of the four Dublin local authorities requesting the delivery of additional emergency accommodation across the Dublin region. A plan submitted to me subsequently by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive will deliver over 200 new permanent beds before the end of the year. Delivery of these additional beds is already under way and all will be in place within the next three to four weeks. That will be in plenty of time for the cold weather spells. We must also recognise that many individuals experiencing homelessness require other supports to assist them to exit homelessness into an independent tenancy. The implementation plan for Housing First, published in September, will deliver permanent housing solutions for rough sleepers and long-term users of emergency accommodation. Building on the success of the 220 tenancies already established, the plan contains targets for each local authority, with an overall national target of 660 additional tenancies to be delivered by 2021. As we move into winter, I have asked all local authorities to ensure that cold weather arrangements are in place for rough sleepers. These arrangements have already been activated in the context of recent cold weather and additional outreach teams are in place to ensure our most vulnerable citizens are being engaged with and supported.
I thank the Minister for his response. As he knows, it is four years since the tragic death of Mr. Jonathan Corry, a young rough sleeper, on the streets just outside this building. What became clear from that case is that even when beds are available in the emergency accommodation system on a given night, and even when local authority or voluntary sector staff engage with rough sleepers, there can still be many significant barriers to people feeling comfortable, safe and secure in emergency accommodation. It is particularly the case for people with complex mental health needs and specifically for those who may have gone through residential detoxification and are genuinely scared to go into dormitory-style hostels because of a fear of relapse.
I am not disputing the additional spending on emergency accommodation or the availability of beds but I am highlighting a more particular problem. There is a cohort of people with very complex needs, as the Minister mentioned. There is emergency accommodation available in Dublin city, for example, and it does not provide them with safe, secure and appropriate emergency accommodation. There are also people, like the young woman who died tragically in Bray earlier this month, living in a part of the country with no emergency accommodation whatever. I am asking the Minister to consider the specific issue and see if there is a way of ensuring these people have safe, secure and appropriate emergency accommodation, which may not be available currently in Dublin and certainly is not available in other parts of the country.
I thank the Deputy for his question. He pointed to a particular case from four years ago that tells us we have been living with this crisis, particularly with individuals sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness, for a number of years. It is why we have people like Fr. Peter McVerry, Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy and Ms Alice Leahy doing such tremendous work for too many years. There is a complexity around this and even when beds are available or when someone might even own a property, people might not be able to deal with all the complexities, even when we include all the supports. We will keep on trying but it will not always be enough. With regard to the facilities and hostels in Dublin in particular, we are rolling out new provisions and we are even replacing old facilities. There is a new facility on St. Stephen's Green run by the Peter McVerry Trust that will take over from where we lost other beds in the system. I visit a number of these facilities if I have the opportunity and the standards are excellent in those I have visited. We have spot checks and we are working with partners on quality standards in emergency accommodation. I know I tend to focus on Dublin but that is because the challenge is very great in Dublin, as we know. This is demand-led where our local authority needs support and resourcing, and it gets them. We ensure we move money in the Department around so those supports are provided where necessary. Where a local authority feels there is a gap, we will help it plug the gap. That is what the extra money is for.
Ms Eileen Gleeson, the director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, came before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government and told us she was doing a study of mortality among rough sleepers. Unfortunately, the study will stop at approximately 2015 so we will not get more recent data. She said there were not enough step-down beds for rough sleepers, for example, particularly people who went through addiction treatment in the city. We also know that while some of the facilities mentioned are state of the art, an individual may have to go through several weeks, months or sometimes years of night to night dormitory-style accommodation before he or she can access those facilities. For people with complex mental health needs or addiction issues, there is not appropriate supported temporary accommodation available straight away.
All I am asking the Minister to do, in particular in light of the study by the DRHE, is to examine this again to ensure, for example, that no one refuses dormitory-style accommodation because they believe it to be unsafe, insecure or inappropriate or because of the lack of available step-down or temporary accommodation, especially accommodation provided for people with mental health issues.
I have served breakfast in one of the hostels in Dublin. That morning I spoke to the people who had stayed there the previous night about their experiences. Not everyone had a positive experience that night even though they were in a fantastic facility that is doing everything it can. I am aware of the additional supports that we need to put in place.
One of the first meetings I had when I came to this job was to discuss the need for more six-month beds. We are funding those now with our partner organisations and it is important to do that.
The Housing First model is key. The Deputy referred to people having to earn their position. We have to break that thinking and that is what Housing First does. It is not about earning a right to accommodation. It is about getting people into safe secure homes and then wrapping supports around them. Bob Jordan is leading on this with the national plan. The Deputy knows Mr. Jordan and the work he does. He will do a fantastic job. Of the 220 tenancies that have been created, between 80% and 90% have been successful. This means the vast majority have not fallen back into homelessness. They have not found themselves back in the cycle they may have been in for several years. Such is the importance of bringing in models from abroad. When we bring them in, we need to support them fully with financing, a national director and a national plan. That is happening now.
