Ms Mary Hurley:

I will take the questions in order. With regard to the interagency group, it is very clear that homelessness is a very complex issue and that a multistranded approach is required. That is why the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, established a homelessness interagency group, which comprises all of the key stakeholders and players in the game with regard to delivering services. As I alluded to in my statement, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government's role relates to the provision of quality accommodation suitable for families and homeless individuals, but the wrap-around supports and the roles other agencies play in providing supports in respect of education, health and children are also very important. All of the key stakeholders are at the table in the interagency group, which is chaired by Mr. John Murphy. A report was provided to the Minister and the Cabinet last year, which set out a range of recommendations for improved co-ordination and coherence in State delivery. Mr. O'Donoghue has alluded to this. We are working very closely with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with regard to supports. We also work with Tusla. The interagency group has been a really useful forum in advancing a range of activities. Our colleagues in the Departments of Justice and Equality and Education and Skills are also represented on the group. We can tease out a range of issues regarding practical delivery and progress them through the group. Housing is just one piece. People who are homeless experience many other issues.

With regard to reducing our lists, housing supply, which is very much linked to delivery, is critical to addressing homelessness. That is why we have a very ambitious programme of delivering social housing under Rebuilding Ireland. We are now seeing building activity really ramping up. This means that we have homes for people on our housing list and for our homeless clients. Last year there were eight times as many units built as in the years before Rebuilding Ireland. We are seeing this translate to a reduction in housing waiting lists. We have seen a reduction of 22% in the number on social housing waiting lists. As I pointed to in my statement, we are also seeing individuals in homeless accommodation exiting homelessness. Unfortunately, we still face the challenge of people and families coming through the door. The Minister recently brought a range of measures through the Dáil. These include reform of the rental sector and the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019. These will go some way towards addressing some of the challenges people face in the rental market. We are seeing an increase in delivery, in the number of families being allocated homes and in exits.

The challenge for us is to continue our prevention measures, to which the Deputy referred. We have put in place new homelessness support officers who are working with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive to support families in hotel accommodation in exiting that accommodation and to give them advice about their options. Separately we have a housing assistance payment placefinder in place. The members will probably have heard about this. Some 23 local authorities now have HAP placefinders. These are individuals in the local authority who assist families or individuals in finding private rented accommodation. A range of measures are under way. It is not a case of either one or the other. As I said earlier, the delivery programme will deliver 10,000 homes this year. Families are also being supported through the housing assistance payment and the rental accommodation scheme. They complement each other. We are using all of the measures we can to address homelessness and to find homes for people.

I will refer to the rough sleepers, about whom the Deputy asked, and the accommodation we provide for them. We have a range of hostels. We recently opened another 100 beds.

We are constantly adding to our stock in terms of emergency beds for homeless single individuals. A key priority and critical delivery mechanism of the Housing First programme, which again ties in with the interagency approach, is to transition somebody who is in a hostel into independent living with all the wrap-around supports for mental health and addiction issues from our colleagues in the Department of Health.

We are seeing progress with delivery but we need to do more. Up to 10,000 homes this year will be delivered. As we get towards the end of Rebuilding Ireland, we will be delivering 12,000 homes annually. That will go out beyond 2027. Those homes are much needed for families and people on our waiting lists. The waiting lists are reducing. We have seen them go down from in excess of 91,000 to just 71,000. Our priority will be to continue to exit as many families and homeless individuals as we possibly can out of emergency accommodation. While we know emergency accommodation is not good for people, we also know it is necessary until our supply ramps up and we find homes for individuals.