James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have met all the individuals the Deputy mentioned on more than one occasion. The Government's homeless policy statement was published on 21 February 2013 and makes explicit the Government's commitment to a housing-led approach to end long-term involuntary homelessness by the end of 2016. Significant measures are being taken, under the Dublin region homeless pilot scheme, including the homeless assistance payment, the Department of Social Protection's tenancy sustainment protocol and the purchase of NAMA properties. There are also a range of other measures relating to the allocation of local authority tenancies. Under these measures, key local authorities are required to prioritise homeless and other vulnerable households in the allocation of tenancies under their control. The four Dublin local authorities have been directed to allocate 50% of available dwellings to this cohort, while the local authorities in Counties Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford have been directed to allocate 30%. It is expected that as a result of this initiative at least 500 homes will be provided to prioritised households in the Dublin region, with a similar total for the other areas combined. These measures were identified in the Government's implementation plan on the State's response to homelessness in May 2014 and the action plan to address homelessness last December.

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