My Department has received approximately 300 offers of accommodation in Donegal.
Some of these did not meet our criteria, which include amongst others the potential impact on the local private rental market. In the case of houses, only those which can comfortably accommodate a minimum of 15 people are considered- these are generally houses with a minimum of 6 bedrooms. Offers which rely on grouping private houses together to reach the 15 bed threshold are not accepted, as this removes housing from the local property market. My Department will make an exception to this rule in the case of owners of holiday home villages, where the entire development will be considered for contract for accommodation for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.
Furthermore, the accommodation must meet the Department of Housing standards applicable to accommodation for homeless people. For example, a 3-bedroom house where the owner proposed to install bunk beds and not to provide any shared recreational space is unlikely to meet the standards. My officials in considering an offer also consider the local amenities available, including ease of transport to schools and shops. There is no guarantee that my Department will contract for every property offered.
Approximately 130 Donegal offers have resulted in contracts being signed.
Of those yet to be evaluated, we are giving priority to assessing those which have been submitted via our updated MS forms offers portal. There are 275 beds in Donegal in the latter category.
The nature of the offer process is such that we do not generate metrics around offers which have not been taken further. Therefore, it is not possible to answer the final part of the Deputy's question.
