Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Role of Chairperson of Housing Agency and Related Matters: Discussion

1:30 pm

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is one very small point. Mr. Skehan is absolutely correct, the report dates from 2016 and the logic of the report was the dramatic rise in the increase in the number of families presenting as homeless. What he did not mention, but I am sure it was an oversight, was that this was also the period when we had a dramatic increase in the number of landlords increasing rents, but before we had an adequate response from Government. There was a crisis in the rental sector. The consequence of that report, notwithstanding the fact that no evidence was provided for strategic presenters, was the 50% priority allocation was allowed to lapse and in all four of the Dublin local authorities, the 50% priority allocation dropped to a range of levels from 20%, 25% and 30%. What is very important is the number of families presenting as homeless, notwithstanding that the original suspicion that led to the call for the report was the rise in this number, but the number of families continued to rise in spite of the fact that the priority allocation fell. That was because of the rental crisis continuing to spiral out of control. We are now in a situation where many local authorities who have never applied a priority allocation system are seeing very dramatic rises in family homelessness. None of that is conclusive evidence, but all of this information is very important to the context. The suggestion, and it is only a suggestion contained in the 2016 report that there is a link between the number of family presenters and the availability of a 50% priority allocation is not only inconclusive but is counter proven by the fact that the increasing levels continued after the withdrawal of the 50% priority allocation in Dublin, and in those counties that have never had a priority allocation.

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