Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
333. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline what legal obligation the State has to provide emergency accommodation to persons who are citizens of countries outside the UK or EEA; whether his Department has examined the reasons for the disproportionate increase in the number of such persons entering emergency accommodation in recent months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41080/23]
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 local authorities in addressing homelessness at a local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of homeless accommodation and related services rests with individual local authorities.
Under the Housing Act 1988 it is a matter for each local authority to determine whether a person is regarded as homeless; section 2 of the Act sets out the requirements in this regard. When a household has been assessed as homeless, section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 provides that a local authority may provide accommodation and related services to that household.
Having regard to the statutory role of local authorities under the Housing Act 1988, all households are assessed, and provided with homeless services, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation. Any household assessed as homeless may be placed into temporary emergency accommodation without the requirement to undergo a social housing assessment, allowing local authorities the flexibility that is essential to respond quickly and effectively to the various needs of cases that may arise.
My Department currently gathers and publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities. These reports are based on data provided by housing authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS).
The monthly homelessness report includes details of individuals, families and the dependants of these families who accessed emergency accommodation during the relevant count week of the month in question. The most recently published data is in respect of July 2023. The reports are collated on a regional basis and are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/80ea8-homelessness-data/ and are also published to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform's open data portal data.gov.ie/.
Since April 2022 my Department has gathered information from local authorities on citizenship of adults accessing emergency accommodation. The citizenship information is broken down by Irish, EEA/UK and Non-EEA and is available on a regional basis at the link above.
The Department carefully monitors the data contained in the reports to identify trends and drivers of homelessness and to allow for informed policies and measures to address homelessness.
