Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is not a simple matter to sort out either. I spoke to somebody on the street the other night from a county outside Dublin who had had a row with his spouse, was on the streets and, according to himself, will be on them for a couple of weeks. At this time of the year, this issue becomes much more of a focus both for agencies dealing with it and because of the time of the year when the weather is deteriorating. I understand that one figure referred to recently relates to the number of unique individuals in contact with the regional contact and outreach service over a six-month period who were sleeping rough for one night. It is not a measurement of the number of people sleeping rough on a given night. Rather, it is an assessment of those who are entering rough sleeping over a six-month period or who may for a number of reasons have left an emergency accommodation bed.

I also understand that what is known as the rough sleeper count, which is twice-yearly, was last conducted in April 2013 and revealed 94 rough sleepers in the Dublin region. I understand that the figures from the recent November rough sleeper count will be available in a short period of time. I notice that many of the people commenting who work for the agencies indicate serious increases in people who are homeless or on the streets. I understand that some of these are based on telephone calls to some of the agencies. I am not sure how accurate this is. I am not decrying the figures they put out but there is a requirement to get an accurate focus on what is happening in Dublin. Some of them indicate to me that the numbers go up by five or six per day. If that is the case, there is clearly a spiralling element of homelessness.

The Minister of State with responsibility for housing is obviously interested in dealing with the housing situation and shortage in so far as we can. A Deputy from Dublin pointed out to me a number of vacant and derelict houses and units in her constituency which have not been attended to for quite a long time by Dublin City Council for one reason or another. The homeless policy statement published this year outlines the Government's intention to end long-term homelessness by 2016. That statement emphasises a housing-led policy that is about accessing permanent housing as a primary response to all forms of homelessness. That is the focus of Government policy. In 2012, in the Dublin region alone, 879 people moved from homelessness to independent living. I recently visited the unit at Merchant's Quay and spoke to some of these people who have moved to independent living and have been very happy with the move they have been able to make despite all the personal difficulties they have had.

I agree that economic circumstances placed huge pressure on so many individuals and families. The Government supports this with a budget of approximately €45 million in 2013. That funding maintains services across the country. It is matched by local authorities with a contribution of at least a further 10%. The bulk of the funding provided by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government goes to funding services by voluntary providers such as Focus Ireland, the Simon Community, Crosscare and the day care drop-in centres and outreach services. They all do very intensive and committed work. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is committed to implementing the homeless policy statement and is determined to work closely with other State and voluntary organisations. We discussed this the other day here in one of the committees I chair so I am interested to see verification of the real numbers and how quickly we can make an impact on this. Based on the rough sleeper count I have given the Deputy, they are the figures I have. The figures from the second rough sleeper count conducted in November will be available very shortly. I agree that it is not a situation that anybody wants to stand over. I asked a homeless person the other evening about what he does with all the gear he was carrying. He told me he leaves it in a particular spot during the course of day and goes around to his usual haunts to see if he can make ends meet. That is not a satisfactory situation. Some people with whom I speak have a range of problems, as the Deputy is aware. Despite the best intentions of many voluntary organisations, some of them do not want to go into housing or emergency housing. Some people want to stay on the street for their own very specific reasons. That is a difficult situation. When I was first elected here in the 1970s, there was a lady across the road who did not want to into permanent accommodation despite all the efforts that were made.

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