Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 February 2021
283. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of homeless persons in counties Kildare and Laois; his plans to provide homes for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5448/21]
View answerMy Department publishes a detailed monthly report on homelessness, based on data provided by housing authorities. The Report outlines details of individuals utilising State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements that are overseen by housing authorities. Data relating to homeless adults are presented at a county level. The Reports are available to access on my Department's website at the following link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/80ea8-homelessness-data/
Increasing the supply of housing, particularly new build social and affordable homes, is a priority for me and for this Government. The Programme for Government commits to increasing the social housing stock by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new builds. In Budget 2021, we backed this objective with funding of €3.3 billion for the delivery of housing. The available funding will deliver 12,750 new social homes through build, acquisition and leasing. A major focus of this investment is the delivery of new build, with an overall target of 9,500 new homes. The increased targets will see increased local authority build on local authority land.
