The report on the 2011 Housing Needs Assessment, available on my Department’s website at www.environ.ie, contains details of waiting list numbers for each local authority which were recorded under the tri-annual social housing needs assessments carried out from 1993 to 2011 under Section 9 of the Housing Act 1988. The latest social housing needs assessment was carried out as at 7 May 2013 in accordance with Section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and these results are also available on my Department’s website.
The 2013 figures are the most up-to-date figures available on waiting list numbers, which are subject to on-going fluctuation due to households being allocated housing and new households applying for housing support. However, the 2013 results cannot be directly compared to previous results given that this latest summary employed different methodologies and it was the first to be carried out under the 2011 Social Housing Assessment Regulations.
As regards the housing situation and homelessness, in February 2013 I published the Government’s Homelessness Policy Statement in which the aim to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016 was outlined. The statement emphasises a housing-led approach which is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. The availability and supply of secure, affordable and adequate housing is essential in ensuring sustainable tenancies and ending long-term homelessness.
The Homelessness Oversight Group, which I established in 2013 for the purposes of reviewing the progress of the approach being advocated in the statement, identifying obstacles and proposing solutions has submitted its first report to me. The report considered the supply and access to housing units throughout the country. A copy of this report is available on my Department's website, www.environ.ie. On 25 February 2014, the Government approved the establishment of a Homelessness Policy Implementation Team and an implementation unit. The team is tasked with implementing the Homelessness Oversight Group's First Report.
This will include the preparation and publication of a structured, practical plan to make the transition from a shelter-led to a sustainable housing-led response to homelessness and to achieve the 2016 goals for homelessness. This plan will be a practically focused delivery plan to secure a ring-fenced supply of accommodation for homeless households within the next three years and mobilise the necessary supports. It will contain actions that will be direct, immediate and solutions based.
The implementation team is representative of the key State agencies dealing with homelessness, housing and related services because the solutions to homelessness do not solely reside in my Department. The team is being led by my Department and it includes a senior official from the Department of Social Protection and the Health Service Executive as well as the Managers of Dublin City Council and Monaghan County Council representing local authorities. The team will report on this plan to the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy in April 2014 and quarterly thereafter.
I am acutely aware of the significant number of families now presenting as homeless in the Dublin region and the extremely challenging situation that this is presenting to Dublin City Council. My Department is working with Dublin City Council on measures to address this emerging situation and the plan will incorporate actions to address this and other accommodation related issues. I expect that in the region of 5,000 social housing units will be provided in 2014. I am committed to continuing to develop innovative and sustainable approaches to the provision of social housing.
