On the 4th of December, 2014, Minister Kelly hosted a special summit on homelessness to reaffirm the Government's commitment to end involuntary long-term homelessness, including that of families with children, by the end of 2016. A number of actions arising from the summit were formalised into an action plan to address homelessness, and substantial progress has been made in implementing that plan. Overall progress is overseen by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and Public Service Reform. The plan and progress reports are available on the website of Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
The December, 2014 Action Plan to Address Homelessness includes a commitment for Tusla and Dublin City Council to coordinate operations to ensure that services are fully responsive to the particular protection and welfare needs that might arise for families in emergency accommodation.
Tusla has had meetings with Focus Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and Dublin City Council in relation to vulnerable families and issues facing care leavers. Tusla intends to create a multi-agency protocol to be clear about individual agency and multi-agency responsibilities with regard to homelessness, and work on this will commence shortly.
In cases where there are welfare or protection concerns in relation to children in families presenting as homeless, the reporting of such concerns to Tusla is governed by Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2011).
For clarity, policy responsibility for homelessness, insofar as it extends to my Department, relates to children under 18 and any child welfare and protection concerns that may arise in the context of the Child Care Act 1991. Young people who are homeless, either singly or as part of a family unit, and not falling within this category are the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and local authorities. Matters in relation to child poverty and educational attainment fall within the remit of the Departments of Social Protection and Education and Skills respectively.
With regard to correspondence with Minister Kelly on the issue of homelessness, there continues to be on-going, significant communication and cooperation between our Departments and related agencies as part of a wider Government approach to addressing this issue.
