Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 July 2021
125. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount spent on emergency accommodation in each of the years 2015 to 2020; and the criteria to qualify as emergency accommodation for the purposes of this spending. [38273/21]
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 emergency accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities. The purposes for which housing authorities may incur expenditure in addressing homelessness are prescribed in Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988.
My Department does not fund any homeless services directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards these costs. 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 spend by housing authorities on homeless services, as well as the types of services including emergency accommodation, are a matter for individual housing authorities in consultation with the Management Group of the relevant regional joint Homeless Consultative Forum.
Financial reports from each of the homeless regions, setting out expenditure on homeless services are published on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/80ea8-homelessness-data/#local-authority-regional-financial-reports
