Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members for their questions. I have taken a note of each one and I will come back to each. Please bear with me. Deputy Ó Broin raised the issue of the numbers of reported homeless, what we count and how we count it, and it is a valid question. We in the Department are responsible for our own numbers and we publish them. We are good in getting the information we get out there. It is appropriate that we do so. I understand the point the Deputy is making, and I have spoken about that with officials and I will look at it. We cannot be responsible for how others report their numbers but if there is scope for us to co-ordinate with other parts of Government to see how we can get a total figure on this, we will try to do that. Whether or not the Deputy was counting those who are in direct provision is another question but I am coming into this brief with an open mind, which is important. My predecessor, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, has done an excellent piece of work in Rebuilding Ireland and given all the work everyone on this committee, led by the Chairman, has done as well, now is the time to see whether there are new initiatives we can bring forward. We are 12 months in and whether a new person is coming into the brief or not, it is good practice to review what one is doing every 12 months, at least when it comes to policy initiatives but also given the importance of this brief. I am keeping an open mind.

The target for homeless families was an ambitious one. However, having an ambitious target was good because what it has driven a huge amount of work to get homeless families our of hotels across the country, in particular, in the four local authorities in Dublin where it matters more than most because 85% of homeless families have presented in Dublin. If one looks at the total figure from when this plan was launched last year to the end of May, approximately 1,200 who presented as homeless were either moved out of hotels or prevented from going into hotels because other supports were found for them. Of course, that speaks to the scale of the crisis but a huge amount of work was done by the local authorities.

Earlier today, I announced that we would allocate an additional €10 million to the existing €25 million for the building of these family help supports so that rather than have 600 families accommodated, we will have 800 families accommodated - an additional 200 families. At the end of May, although we are still waiting for the final figure, there were roughly 650 families in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. I have made the commitment not only with that funding but also in working with the local authorities that by the end of this month, those 65 families will have either have been moved out of their commercial accommodation or will know where they are going because they have been given a letter telling them where they are going. That will happen in a number of weeks. Of course, some families will remain due to exceptional circumstances. Unique individual needs will need tailored solutions.

However, we have seen an increase in families presenting as homeless, in particular in the last number of months, which is why I have made that new funding available for the new hubs. That will accommodate 200 families. One site has already been chosen and we will get those other sites up and running as quickly as we can.