Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 8 Nov 2000

Vol. 525 No. 3

Written Answers. - Local Authority Housing.

Ivan Yates

Ceist:

305 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will review immediately the current provision in relation to the homeless by increasing resources to Focus Ireland and other voluntary groups in the sector; and if he will ensure that local authorities are availing of the services of voluntary housing organisations to provide for the specialist needs of people who have had difficulty in former local authority tenancies and require combined social support to deal with serious addiction and other problems in a housing context. [24978/00]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

Local authorities have wide powers under section 10 of the Housing Act, 1988, to provide and fund the cost of accommodation for homeless people. This includes the cost of accommodation arranged directly by the local authorities or on their behalf by health boards and voluntary bodies with whom the local authorities work closely in regard to meeting the needs of homeless persons. My Department recoups 90% of local authorities expenditure on accommodation for the homeless.

While the section 10 bed-night contribution rate is agreed between the local authority and the voluntary body, the Department has recom mended that the minimum rate should be £10 per bed-night. Higher rates may be agreed if individual circumstances warrant it, however, the Department must be consulted in advance of any such agreement.

In addition, the Government's strategy on homelessness provides for capital spending on the direct provision by local authorities of suitable accommodation for homeless persons to be doubled from £20 million to £40 million over the next five years. Additional current funding of £6 million per annum will also be available from my Department to increase payments for the provision of hostel accommodation and to establish settlement/outreach services. Additional funding of £6 million will be available from the Department of Health and Children to fund the provision of in-house care and specialist support for homeless persons in hostels.

My Department's voluntary housing capital assistance scheme is the major source of funding for the provision by voluntary housing organisations of hostel and sheltered housing accommodation for homeless persons. The provision for the scheme has been increased from £16.5 million in 1999 to £26 million for the present year.

Addiction can sometimes play a significant part in people becoming homeless. In such cases, the provision of accommodation will not, on its own, suffice and accompanying support services will also be required. For this reason, a special £5 million allocation over the two years 2000 and 2001 was made in the last budget for the provision of two high support hostels for homeless people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. The allocation was made available to Dublin Corporation to build or acquire and redevelop suitable premises for these purposes. This allocation was in addition to the £4 million allocation in the public capital programme for the provision by local authorities of hostel accommodation this year.