Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 December 2023
344. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of people who presented as homeless to Mayo County Council in 2023 and were either turned away or issued vouchers due to the fact emergency accommodation was full; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56152/23]
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 local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities.
A homelessness consultative forum has been established in each region in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009. Decisions on the range of emergency accommodation services and funding required in each region are a matter for individual local authorities in consultation with the Management Group of the relevant regional joint Homelessness Consultative Forum. It is a matter for the Management Group to bring forward proposals to my Department that meet the needs of homeless individuals in their administrative area and the funding requirements will be considered in this context.
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 local authorities. These reports are based on data provided by local 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 October 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/
They are also published to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform's open data portal, data.gov.ie/
My Department does not hold the details sought. This information may be available from Mayo County Council.
