Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Martin for raising the issue of homelessness. It is not the first time it has been raised here. It is most distressing to find that a man died on the street over the last few days. Everyone agrees that this is an issue that is not new but that has been exacerbated in the last number of years in particular. It is also fair to say that the extent of moneys being provided for the NGOs is significant, to put it mildly, and what is needed now is follow-through to ensure that there is an effective response for those who are homeless. As Deputy Martin is well aware, these are in different categories. There are those who are on the streets, there are those who are in bed and breakfast accommodation and there are those who are in hotels, particularly with children, which is not an ideal situation by any means. In regard to rough sleeping on the streets of Dublin, where the count has shown an increase in numbers, it is not actually a question of the allocation of money. For instance, arrangements are now in place to expand the number of emergency bed spaces. A total of 164 beds are being sourced by Dublin City Council, of which 38 are already in place. There will be another 30 places by 8 December, which is later this week, another 76 by 15 December and a further 20 by 5 January. At the last count, there were 160 people sleeping rough in Dublin.

There are 665 vacant units in the hands of Dublin City Council which are being refurbished and returned to use. Work has started on 245 of those and work on a further 410 will commence in the next four to six months. The Housing First service for rough sleepers is under way in Dublin. The programme is run by Focus Ireland and the Fr. McVerry Trust to support rough sleepers to find and sustain tenancies. There is also the matter of housing allocations, on which the Minister has written to everybody, and the tenancy sustainment protocol. An additional €10.5 million was made available in this regard for homeless people.

The Minister is calling a meeting on Thursday to talk to NGOs and meet with the Archbishop of Dublin and the Lord Mayor. The matter has been on the agenda of the Cabinet sub-committee on homelessness and social policy for the last number of weeks. That will be dealt with next Monday. I hope that, arising from the meetings that the Minister will have with the Lord Mayor, the archbishop, the chairpersons of local authorities and representatives of NGOs, we can reflect on the best impact and effect that can be obtained from the considerable moneys being spent through the NGOs to ensure that rough sleepers can be given a roof over their heads and a place to stay in the first instance. From speaking to people, it is clear that some of these cases are so complex that it is very difficult to say one could get all the people off the streets. Some of them have particular problems.

I found it distressing to hear about the man who lost his life in Molesworth Street. I recall, as the Ceann Comhairle will, the good lady who used to sleep over there in a box in the mid-1970s. Despite the efforts of all the agencies at the time, it was very difficult to get her to agree to stay in a hostel or any other place. I genuinely believe, given the number of vacant rooms and spaces, that if we can get everybody focused on a single objective, the number of rough sleepers in the city will be very limited and those will be the very complex cases.

In respect of the other issues of homelessness, where people are in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels, the Minister has dealt with these matters at considerable length. Clearly, the allocation over the next number of years of €2.2 billion for social and affordable housing is the way to go. No matter what one does, one has to build those houses. That means planning permissions, income streams for contractors and getting the blocks and houses in place. Deputy Martin should believe me that it is not the intention of Government to see anybody homeless.

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