Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to stick to my speaking note and maybe we will get through them in the next few hours.

In the action plan, we have set a clear target on homelessness, which is to have no families in hotels for emergency accommodation by mid-2017 except in very limited circumstances. Long-term hotel accommodation for families is not acceptable and we need to end it. We will treble the rapid-build programme to 1,500 homes, 200 of which will be delivered by the end of this year. In the meantime, we will ensure that services for families, particularly children, in hotels and other emergency accommodation are far better and adapted to ensure that we look after the needs of families.

The other side of homelessness is rough sleeping, which is often compounded by and tied in with mental health and addiction issues, family breakdown and so on. This is a complex area that really requires close co-operation with both the Department of Health and the HSE. For that reason, we are trebling the funding for mental health and primary care services for homeless persons, from €2 million to €6 million, in budget 2017.

In examining the social failing that is homelessness, one point made to me repeatedly was that prevention obviously is far better than cure. We are therefore targeting families and individuals worried about or at risk of homelessness with a new awareness campaign. For the families and individuals in mortgage arrears, we are providing more and better services, including free expert legal and financial advice and supports. I particularly acknowledge the support I have received from other ministerial colleagues in this area.

In addition to the series of local events on Rebuilding Ireland, there will also be a series of pillar-specific national launch events. The first of these will deal with pillar 1 and is scheduled to take place tomorrow week, 22 September, in Dublin.

For the information of members, particularly those from Dublin, at present we are assessing our level of preparedness for rough sleeping demand for the oncoming winter. There is clearly a need for more emergency beds and we are assessing properties to ensure that we can accommodate that extra need. Obviously, there is a lot of detailed consultation going on with all of the different stakeholders, from Dublin City Council to the many others that are providing and trying to co-ordinate services. Some members have been involved in that. We are looking to put practical measures in place that can ensure that through the winter those who need emergency hostel accommodation can get it. I can provide details as we finalise numbers on that and the locations as to where we might be able to add capacity for those who will otherwise be rough sleeping.