Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his officials for making themselves available for this meeting. The area of housing and homelessness is one that needs to be dealt with immediately on foot of this week's unfortunate events, which we discussed earlier in the Chamber. In February 2013 the Government set itself the target of ending homelessness by 2016. An implementation plan on the State's response to homelessness was published earlier this year. It set out specific policies, including an implementation team and a central implementation unit, which was established to drive the objectives of that plan. What reports has that committee issued on foot of its having been put in place? What commitments did it make to deliver units to deal with the issues that existed then and that have been exacerbated in the meantime?

What level of co-operation takes place between the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Health in terms of addiction services and associated services and in direct housing provision, especially in terms of tackling homelessness?
My next question is on the house adaptation grants and housing aid for the elderly. Is the Minister aware that the schemes recognise the funding commitment made by local authorities? Is he aware that for every €1,000 raised locally there is €4,000 raised by the Department? As he will be aware, many local authorities have so little funding that they are unable to commit the necessary resources. For example, in County Offaly 70 applicants have been informed by their local authority that it will take between three to five years before their applications can be dealt with due to a lack of funding. It would cost €15,000 per unit or over €1 million to make their homes fit for purpose. In the event of people not being able to live in their home the only alternative is to provide nursing home care through the fair deal scheme at a cost of €1,000 per week or €52,000 per year for each individual. That means it would cost up to €16 million for the 70 applicants to avail of such a scheme for a period of five years. Therefore, the cost to the State for not dealing with the initial issue is €1 million which compares favourably with the cost of €15 million for the alternative option. The local authority has jurisdiction over this matter, in conjunction with the Department. If the original €1 million cannot be provided then it will cost €15 million for the alternative option. It does not make sense to opt for the latter. I hope some effort will be made to look at pockets of the country where this scheme exists with a view to making funding available that will eradicate the waiting list and save the State money.
Last week a housing programme was announced. Local authorities expected to achieve funding from commercial rates vis-à-visIrish Water but there have been problems. What communications took place between the Department and the local authorities in the preparation of the strategy for the next four years? Can the Minister point to such meetings? Did he have a firm indication of what lands were available in each local authority and what lands had planning permission? What was the possibility or prospect of shovel-ready projects being in a local authority where one could get a greater awareness of how quick the actions contained in the strategy could be acted upon in various local authorities? What consultation took place before the publication of the strategy? What policy emanated from those meetings? How will the strategy eradicate the problem in those counties? Was it based on the information made available to the Department?
I welcome the announcement made by the Minister today in response to this week's events. He said he was prepared to facilitate a forum of relevant stakeholders later this week to inspect the potential that may exist for short-term solutions to the grave problem of people living on our streets and not having a home. Can he indicate that we will have actions rather than more plans which take too long? He must have some short-term actions in mind. In order to help the homeless a bishop has offered a building within his control as a short or medium-term solution.

Has the State or any of its arms been in consultation with the delegates recently? Will anyone be in touch with them in the coming days in an effort to make Army barracks or something of that nature available in the short term? Perhaps we could deal with these issues. Other members have questions and points to make on different matters so that we might have a greater appreciation of the whole of the Department and the Minister's responsibilities, which I am sure we will discuss at greater length in the coming weeks, given the Minister's time constraints.