Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2021
317. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated cost of providing family hubs for families experiencing homelessness in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33373/21]
View answerMy Department's role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of homeless services rests with individual housing authorities.
My Department has been working with the local authorities to deliver family hubs, which provide more appropriate emergency accommodation for families. There are now 35 hubs operational nationally, offering over 766 units of family accommodation. Of these, 26 of these are in Dublin, with 2 in Galway and Kildare and 1 each in Cork, Clare, Meath, Limerick and Louth.
My Department provides capital funding to local authorities to support the development of family hubs. Since 2018, capital payments of €42m have been made in respect of family hubs. The capital funding to be provided in 2022 will be dependent on the progress made by local authorities on the development of additional family hubs.
In relation to the operational funding for family hubs, my Department does not fund any homeless services directly but contributes towards the overall expenditure incurred by housing authorities in the provision of homeless accommodation services. Under the funding arrangements, housing authorities must provide at least 10% of the cost of services from their own resources and may also incur additional expenditure outside of the funding arrangements with my Department. Therefore, the exact spend on homeless services, including on the operation of family hubs, is a matter for individual housing authorities, in consultation with the Management Group of each of the relevant regional joint Homeless Consultative Forums established in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009.
Financial reports from each of the regions, setting out total expenditure on homeless services, including on family hubs for 2020, are published at the following link https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/80ea8-homelessness-data/. These financial reports show that housing authorities incurred expenditure of some €25m on the operation of 35 family hubs in 2020. The current funding to be provided in 2022 will depend on the scale of family hub provision at that time.
