John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to answer as many of the Deputy's questions as possible. If some questions are not touched on, I will certainly endeavour to obtain further answers afterwards.

One of the key commitments in Rebuilding Ireland is to only use commercial hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families in exceptional circumstances. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is absolutely committed to achieving this. Hotels are not a suitable or secure form of accommodation for families and especially for young children, as the Deputy pointed out.

In terms of overall progress, since Rebuilding Ireland was published last July, it is worth noting that over 830 families have exited hotels and B&Bs and that over 400 families have been prevented from entering hotels in the period up to the end of May of this year. However, despite this, at the end of May, there were still 647 families in commercial hotels and B&B-type accommodation. While it should be acknowledged that this is a considerable reduction on the 871 such families recorded at the end of March, this number of families in hotels and B&Bs needs to reduce and reduce fast.

With regard to the 647 families, the Dublin authorities have confirmed to me that all of the remaining families have been personally contacted and have been given written indications of the accommodation solution envisaged to allow them exit their current commercial hotel or B&B arrangement. Roughly one third of these families will move to permanent social housing in the coming weeks in accordance with their place on the housing list. One third will move into private rented tenancies with the assistance of social housing supports, primarily via the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme while the remaining families will be relocated into newly developed family-focused temporary accommodation facilities or "family hubs".

The Dublin authorities have been working on the delivery of 15 family-focused facilities at a total estimated cost of €25 million, all of which will be in place in the coming weeks. These 15 facilities will provide supported temporary accommodation for some 600 families at any point in time. The Minister recently announced an additional €10 million in funding for the development of further family-focused facilities. This funding will provide additional accommodation for at least another 200 families. The provision of new custom-developed, family-focused facilities will provide more appropriate and suitable temporary accommodation for families offering family living arrangements with a greater level of stability than is possible in hotel accommodation. The facilities will offer on-site access to required services, such as welfare, health, housing services, cooking and laundry facilities and appropriate family supports and will facilitate more co-ordinated needs assessment and support planning.

However it is important to note that these facilities are not a long-term housing solution and families will be moved into independent tenancies as quickly as possible. While families are accommodated in these facilities, they will still be considered as "homeless" for the purpose of their social housing assessment and their homeless status will be reflected in monthly homeless reports. In delivering these new facilities, it is the responsibility of the housing authority to comply with all statutory requirements, including planning, building and fire regulation, and there are strict quality controls in place to ensure this. There are also guidelines in place, which were developed by my Department in consultation with the Dublin authorities, regarding standards for the various forms of temporary accommodation for families. This guidance includes standards relating to minimum sizes for family units and the provision of living spaces and bathroom facilities. Furthermore, the Dublin authorities are also guided in the provision of temporary accommodation for families by the national quality standards framework for homelessness services, which was developed by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. This framework provides for a minimum level of quality in the provision of temporary accommodation to homeless families.

The Minister is confident that these new facilities will provide more security and stability for homeless families than would be possible in hotel accommodation. Of course, our ultimate objective remains to provide long-term accommodation solutions for the families concerned and this will continue to be the focus of concerted priority supported by the €5.35 billion in funding committed under Rebuilding Ireland.

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