At the end of March 2017, there was a total of 871 families accommodated in commercial hotels and B&Bs in the Dublin region. By the end of May, this figure had reduced to approximately 650.
Changes in the number of families in hotels arise on a daily basis as new homeless families present, while others leave. In the two months from March to May 2017, based on figures provided to my Department by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE), 220 of the 381 families presenting as homeless entered hotels, while accommodation solutions were delivered for 605 families - 319 through a programme of family-oriented supported temporary accommodation facilities and 286 through local authority/Approved Housing Body tenancies or the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) homelessness scheme, including 161 families who were prevented from entering hotels. Overall, since the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness was published in July 2016, over 830 families have exited hotels and during the same timeframe, over 400 families were prevented from entering hotels through the HAP scheme.
I am engaging with the Dublin local authorities on an ongoing basis to ensure that the continued reduction in the use of hotels is prioritised. While the emphasis must be on exiting as many as possible of the families in hotels at end-May, I have requested that any remaining families, other than in exceptional circumstances, are notified by end June of the pathway out of hotels envisaged for them. The completion of that work shortly will provide information on the mix of accommodation solutions involved.
Last week, I announced my intention to make available €10 million for further new family-oriented supported temporary accommodation facilities. Currently, fifteen such facilities are being developed at a total estimated cost of €25 million to provide accommodation for upwards of 600 families. The additional funding will add accommodation in such facilities for at least another 200 families.
