Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses for coming in. Child homelessness is going to have life-long effects, unfortunately, for those children. At the other end, elderly homelessness is also an issue of huge concern. We can see it around us. I wish to refer to the midlands homeless action plan and ask some specific questions of the representatives of Westmeath County Council. I live in Laois and represent the Laois constituency, which explains why I am raising it. The witnesses outlined the most appropriate emergency accommodation and seemed to be veering towards family hubs. I ask Ms Finney to explain briefly, in three or four sentences, what that means. My next question is on the proportion of funding for homeless services in the four midland counties. The Simon community, up to two years ago, said that it was only 1.5% of the total funding in the State. I ask the witnesses to address where funding is at the moment. If I am reading it correctly, in 2024 it was €6.8 million for the region. Is that correct? I ask the witnesses to address what those family hubs would look like. They also mentioned that we need a more sustainable form of funding.

As one of the witnesses said, when they get to homeless services we have failed. It is about trying to stop that from happening. Will Mr. Kehoe outline the more restrictive tenant in situ scheme? Do he and his colleagues, the other chief executives, think this will lead to more homelessness and put more pressure on housing? On solutions, Mr. Kehoe outlined four pillars on his presentation. They are welcome. He states that infrastructure investment could reduce the over-reliance on private accommodation. Will he spell out in a couple of sentences exactly what he means on expensive private emergency accommodation? The sustainable funding model currently operates through section 10. I think I know what he is driving at there in terms of Department bookkeeping and how that should happen. He says that all four local authorities in the midlands are working to enhance and accelerate delivery of social housing units, specifically allocated to homeless people. I know local authorities are trying to ramp up. I know Laois has a fairly good record. There is further work to be done in the county, but they are going well at it. Will he tell me what the four factors slowing down housing delivery are from his point of view as chief executive? Is he being allowed, as county manager, to use the same plans that are being used in other counties? In other words, he is not starting with a blank canvas sheet on every housing development, but there are ten or 12 different types of houses to suit different household types. Is he allowed to use them or are we still more or less going to a blank canvas?