Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is part of the challenge we face as a society and as a Government in delivering and providing services for people in a various categories who have real problems in this regard. I have been down to visit Brother Kevin at the centre on a number of occasions. He is an extraordinary man and he has been doing this work for years. Obviously, the numbers who turn up at his centre speak for themselves.

It is not all without inactivity. The Government has allocated serious resources for tackling homelessness in the budget for this year, with €100 million being spent on homeless services. This is not an insignificant figure. In addition, the overall housing budget for this year is €1.3 billion. Deputy Martin and I have discussed this before and the issue is how quickly the necessary houses can be built. The Minister has set out targets for not having people in emergency accommodation and targets for providing accommodation for people who are homeless and sleeping rough or who are in hostels at various locations in Dublin. Some of the projects have been extraordinarily successful. In 2016, there were 3,052 households that exited homelessness, which is the highest level ever. The ambition is very high this year. Deputy Martin spoke of building houses, and work is under way on advancing 650 rapid-build homes in 2017. There will be another 500 units in 2018. O'Devaney Gardens is up the road from Brother Kevin's centre. That site has lain there for years but work is now under way.

There are places like George's Place in Dún Laoghaire with 12 homes, St. Aidan's off Brookfield Road with 71 homes, Poppintree in Ballymun with 22, Cherry Orchard in Ballyfermot with 24, and so on. Construction is under way in quite a lot of places. I agree it is by no means perfect and there are always gaps in the level of services that are provided. These issues are being addressed constantly, as Deputy Martin is well aware. The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has a special unit which meets regularly. It has provided incentives, opportunities and shortcuts for private enterprise to be able to build houses on public property and for local authorities to provide houses. The development of the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme has made an important contribution, as has the provision of homes and services for those who have particular difficulties.

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive confirmed a minimum of 142 people on its last count at the end of the year. Developments have taken place to provide beds in what are very good hostels. I have looked at a number of those. Brother Kevin does an extraordinary job. This is part of the enormous range of challenges the Government is trying to meet. We must have the engine that can drive our economy to provide these services, be it chiropody or dental or whatever, down in those centres. Deputy Martin may shake his head. It is not as perfect as one would wish but these matters are receiving real priority, not just from the HSE but from the different agencies to try to provide in the best and most effective way possible for many of these people. Part of that is putting €100 million on the table for services and €1.3 billion this year for housing for the homeless, social housing and so on.

See this speech in context