Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 January 2019
306. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of persons in emergency homeless accommodation by local authority area and by length of time in such accommodation; the number of children and adults in each case in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date in 2019; the cost of providing such accommodation in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3680/19]
View answerMy Department publishes a monthly report on homelessness. The monthly report is based on data provided by housing authorities and produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS). The report captures details of individuals utilising State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements that are overseen by housing authorities.
The most recent report is for November 2018 which showed that there were 6,157 adults and 3,811 dependants in emergency accommodation in that month. Monthly reports for 2016, 2017 and 2018 are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.
Quarterly performance reports prepared by the local authorities on a regional basis provide information on the duration of time spent by persons in emergency accommodation. The most recently published report is for Quarter 3 2018 and shows that 43% of the adults recorded were in emergency accommodation for less than 6 months, and 57% for more than 6 months. The regional breakdown at the end of Quarter 3 2018 is shown in the table.
Q3 Duration in Emergency Accommodation - Regional Breakdown
|
|
< 6 months |
|
> 6 Months |
|
Regional Total |
|
|
Amount |
% |
Amount |
% |
|
|
Dublin |
1,196 |
31% |
2,683 |
69% |
3,879 |
|
Mid-East |
282 |
75% |
92 |
25% |
374 |
|
Midland |
78 |
70% |
34 |
30% |
112 |
|
Mid West |
226 |
68% |
107 |
32% |
333 |
|
North East |
76 |
64% |
42 |
36% |
118 |
|
North West |
35 |
78% |
10 |
22% |
45 |
|
South East |
175 |
53% |
153 |
47% |
328 |
|
South West |
266 |
73% |
99 |
27% |
365 |
|
West |
188 |
57% |
142 |
43% |
330 |
|
Totals |
2,522 |
43% |
3,362 |
57% |
5,884 |
In relation to the costs of providing emergency accommodation, my Department provides funding to housing authorities on a regional basis towards the operational costs of homeless accommodation and related services. Under the funding arrangements, housing authorities must provide at least 10% of the cost of services from their own resources. Housing authorities may also incur additional expenditure on homeless related services outside of these funding arrangements with my Department. Therefore, the exact amounts spent by housing authorities on homeless services, as well as the types of accommodation and the service providers engaged, are a matter for those authorities.
Performance and Financial reports from each of the regions, setting out expenditure on homeless services, including emergency accommodation, in each region are published on my Department's website at the following link:
http://www.housing.gov.ie/node/5498.
