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Homelessness Strategy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2021

Wednesday, 5 May 2021

Questions (93)

Eoin Ó Broin

Question:

93. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to reverse the sharp increase in single person homelessness evidenced in recent months. [22935/21]

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Written answers

The Monthly Homeless Report for March and the Homeless Quarterly Progress Report for the first quarter of 2021 were published by my Department on Friday 30 March. The number of individuals presenting to homeless services and the number of people accessing emergency accommodation continued to decline in the first quarter of 2021, following a trend first established in fourth quarter of 2019. The March report confirms that there were 8,060 individuals accessing emergency accommodation, a decrease of 1,847 individuals, or 18.6%, on the 9,907 total recorded one year previously. This is the lowest number of homeless individuals recorded since June 2017. These Reports confirmed a decrease in the number of single individuals accessing emergency accommodation in March.

These reports also show that at the end of March, a total of 539 individuals were being housed under the Housing First programme. I look forward to the targets outlined in the National Implementation Plan for the programme being achieved by the end of this year. I wrote to each local authority on 26 February to recognise the progress made on Housing First to date, to stress the importance of the national targets being met, and to confirm that the expansion of the programme from 2022 for the years ahead will be announced later this year.

The Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, commits to reducing and preventing homelessness and provides detail on how the Government is approaching this work as a priority. Homelessness is complex and causal factors and family circumstances vary considerably as do the responses needed. Homelessness is also inter-related with the other areas of the housing system and with broader social and healthcare policy and service delivery. Therefore, a whole of Government approach is required in dealing with this challenge.

The Programme for Government recognises that many households experiencing homelessness have additional support needs and includes specific measures to address these needs. These include measures to help rough sleepers into sustainable accommodation, the continued expansion of Housing First, with a focus on the construction and acquisition of one-bed homes, and, importantly, ensuring that there is dedicated funding and resources to deliver the necessary health and mental health supports required to assist homeless people with complex needs.

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.

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