Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
785. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated full cost of emergency accommodation in 2020; and the projected cost for 2021 and 2022, by local authority and type of emergency accommodation, that is, hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels and family hubs. [41149/21]
View answer791. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated full year cost of providing emergency accommodation for homeless persons and families in 2020 and to date in 2021; and the estimated cost for 2022, including all supports paid to the local authorities and subsidies to third-party providers. [41155/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 785 and 791 together.
My Department's role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the statutory 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.
Exchequer funding for homeless services is provided through my Department to housing authorities on a regional basis. The table below sets out the funding recouped to housing authorities on a regional basis for 2020 and to date in 2021, including funding recouped towards expenditure incurred in implementing exceptional Covid-19 measures. The Exchequer allocation in 2021 is €218m. The budget for 2022 will be agreed in the context of the Estimates process.
|
Region |
Exchequer Funding provided 2020 |
Exchequer funding provided to date in 2021 |
|
Dublin |
€217.5m |
€78.8m |
|
Mid-East |
€8.5m |
€2.3m |
|
Midland |
€2.5m |
€0.9m |
|
Mid-West |
€9.2m |
€4.9m |
|
North-East |
€2.9m |
€1.3m |
|
North-West |
€0.8m |
€0.5m |
|
South-East |
€3.9m |
€2.3m |
|
South-West |
€16.2m |
€6.6m |
|
West |
€9.3m |
€3.7m |
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
