Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 16 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Anti-Poverty Strategy.

Phil Hogan

Ceist:

34 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the progress which has been made on reaching the national anti-poverty strategy target of eliminating rough sleeping by the end of 2004; the measures which have been put in place to ensure an accurate count of those forced to sleep rough; the process for reviewing this target at the end of 2003 which has been put in place; the way in which the voluntary service providers have been consulted in this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23473/03]

Seán Crowe

Ceist:

69 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the progress which has been made on reaching the national anti-poverty strategy target of eliminating sleeping rough by the end of 2004; the procedures which have been put in place to ensure an accurate count of those forced to sleep rough throughout the country; the process for reviewing this target at the end of 2003 which has been put in place; the way in which the voluntary service providers have been consulted in this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23532/03]

Eamon Gilmore

Ceist:

177 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the progress which has been made on reaching the national anti-poverty strategy target of elimi nating sleeping rough by the end of 2004; the procedures which have been put in place to ensure an accurate count of those forced to sleep rough throughout the country; the process for reviewing this target at the end of 2003 which has been put in place; the way in which the voluntary service providers have been consulted in this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23695/03]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 34, 69 and 177 together.

One of the key targets in the national anti-poverty strategy is the provision of sufficient and appropriate emergency accommodations for rough sleepers by end 2004 in conjunction with the provision of appropriate outreach services to enable them to access the services available to them.

It is the responsibility of the homeless forum set up in each city and county to monitor the implementation of the homeless action plan which they drafted to detail how accommodation, health, settlement and welfare services would be provided to homeless persons. Significant progress has already been made in the provision of services for rough sleepers since the publication of Homelessness – an Integrated Strategy in May 2000.

Initiatives which have come on stream in the Dublin area include additional outreach teams to make contact with people sleeping rough and assist them into accommodation, the Dublin City Council nightly bus service which takes people from the streets to available accommodation, a hostel for young drug users and a long-term supported housing project for street drinkers which was opened earlier this year. Appropriate provisions are also being put in place in other local authority areas throughout the country to cater specifically for persons sleeping rough and street drinkers. My Department recoups to local authorities 90% of the accommodation related costs of these facilities while the care/support cost are provided by the health boards.

As part of the assessment of homelessness in the Dublin area undertaken by the Homeless Agency and the ESRI in March 2002 and published in Counted In in 2002, the agency, in conjunction with the voluntary homeless service providers, undertook a one night street count of persons sleeping rough. They found that 140 persons were sleeping rough in the entire Dublin area, of which 79 were in the city centre even though 312 persons had indicated in the course of the assessment that they had slept rough during the previous week. A more recent one night count undertaken in April 2003 under the aegis of the Homeless Agency found some 86 persons sleeping rough in the entire Dublin area.

The difficulty of carrying out an accurate count of persons sleeping rough is generally acknow ledged. I am, however confident that the implementation of the LINK data system, at present being piloted by the statutory and voluntary homeless service providers in the Dublin area together with the continued efforts of outreach workers will, ultimately, provide the basis for a more accurate counting system.

The achievement of the NAPS target in relation to persons sleeping rough remains a Government objective and the review of this key target will be considered in the context of the overall review of the strategies that will be initiated by the end of this year.

Barr
Roinn