Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This year we will support more than 21,000 tenancies in social housing supports. Next year we will build almost double the figures built by local authorities, housing bodies and social houses this year which was four times the 2015 figure. We will not return to the era of monotenure massive social housing estates because we do not believe in segregation and division, but in mixed communities. That is what we are doing with Rebuilding Ireland. There is €6 billion of capital ring-fenced with which we can provide for the needs of people on our social housing lists. We will be able to get people out of homelessness into secure, supported accommodation. That is what the Government is trying to do. We will not use this issue as a political football.

At a housing summit in September, I emphasised the need for all local authorities to have sufficient emergency beds and appropriate facilities for every person sleeping rough on any night of the week. Today, the Dublin Region Housing Executive has reported a total of 184 people who were sleeping rough across the Dublin region on the night of 7 November 2017. We are in the process of delivering 200 permanent emergency beds so that a bed and all necessary supports will be available to anyone who needs it. All these beds will be brought into use over coming weeks and will be in place by 18 December. There are already 1,850 beds in supported temporary accommodation to which these 200 are in addition.

Exit from rough sleeping into Housing First will continue in parallel with this work. We support the Housing First model, for which we put beds in place and in coming weeks I will appoint a national director for Housing First. The Dublin Region Housing Executive will also implement its targeted programme to reach out to all those sleeping rough and provide them with the interventions and supports they need. Housing First is the best solution, but some people need beds immediately which these new beds will provide on a permanent basis. These supports are being put in place with partner organisations. The facility I visited today on the Cabra Road will be funded by the Exchequer and operated by our partners in the Peter McVerry Trust. The people who use this facility will also have access to a range of health and welfare supports, as well as food and sanitary facilities which they would not have on the streets. Facilities such as the ones being delivered between now and Christmas will enable some stability so that the housing authorities and the HSE can work with individuals to see how they might exit homelessness into independent living. These beds are not just for the Christmas period. They are not temporary beds: they are permanent emergency supports. Our first priority when dealing with homelessness must be to look after those who are most vulnerable and that is the 180 people, and more, who are sleeping rough on the streets tonight, to get them safe shelter and sustainable supports.

We are entering a cold weather period when people will be particularly vulnerable and it is imperative that we have in place a co-ordinated and robust response for anyone who might be sleeping rough over this period. Accordingly, I requested that a contingency arrangement be put in place in the event that any additional requirements arise during the winter and cold weather period.

I welcome the DRHE's cold weather strategy, which was published today. This will see the availability of a further 50 temporary beds, if required, in addition to the 200 new beds that were also announced. There will be more than enough spare capacity in the system as an additional precaution. The cold weather strategy can also be activated during more extreme weather conditions. We saw the response for vulnerable homeless people during the recent Storm Ophelia, which was testament to that. This was implemented with our partner organisations in the voluntary sector. Given the cold weather expected over the coming days, arrangements are in place since last night with our partners, such as the Peter McVerry Trust and Focus Ireland, to ensure that additional temporary shelter will be brought into use across a range of existing services and facilities for single people and couples on a temporary basis. A contingency emergency response is in place permanently for any family who may be at risk of sleeping rough at any time. These beds are in addition to the 40 emergency beds that have already been delivered in the past number of months.

Across the country, cold weather plans and initiatives are also being advanced. Local authorities in major urban centres have confirmed to me that they have robust contingency arrangements to meet any additional homelessness requirements as they arise during the winter period. In Cork, an additional 25 temporary beds are in place. In Galway, 34 temporary beds are in place. In Limerick, an additional ten temporary beds are in place.

As the emergency beds and facilities are delivered over coming weeks, the DRHE has a targeted plan and programme to reach out to all rough sleepers and provide them with the interventions and supports that they need. As I have stated, my priority was to deliver permanent emergency accommodation in 2017 and there will be enough beds in place by the end of the year to meet the needs of all those who are currently rough sleeping. The officials in my Department and I will continue to monitor and review the situation as the winter progresses.

We continue to face a crisis in homelessness. However, the situation is beginning to look like it is stabilising in Dublin, which is where our homeless problem has been most severe. The numbers continue to increase outside of Dublin, however, so we must take the actions that have arrested the increase in Dublin and apply them elsewhere. In October, the Dublin region experienced a decrease of one in the number of homeless adults and the number of families in emergency accommodation increased by one despite 88 new families entering services during the month, meaning that 87 families successfully exited homelessness in the same period. This follows two months of a decline in the numbers of families in emergency accommodation in Dublin. In the same month, the number of families exiting commercial hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation also reduced from 690 to 676, which is 22% decrease in the number of families in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation since the high point of March 2017. Last week, during Private Members' business, I spoke about the new family hubs which provide family appropriate transitional accommodation. I can now say that between now and January 2018 an additional 185 hub spaces will become available in Dublin and an additional 45 spaces in Limerick.

Since the beginning of Rebuilding Ireland, in addition to securing housing for those who have already lost their homes, DRHE has worked tirelessly to prevent people from losing their homes. This has resulted in more than 600 preventions of homelessness in addition to more than 2,000 exits from homelessness since the beginning of this year. That is more than 2,600 people who would be homeless today if not for the coordinated efforts led by the DRHE and Eileen Gleeson. This is the product of many hours and weeks of work by the DRHE. We ask those who feel they are at risk of homelessness to link in with the DRHE at the earliest opportunity so that it, with its partner Threshold, can begin, in the first instance, to prevent the eviction or, where this is not possible, put the correct supports in place to ensure the housing needs of the household are met.

The number of people accessing emergency accommodation in October was 8,492 nationally. This comprises 5,298 adults and 3,194 dependants. While the figure has increased, the rate of increase is much smaller and we are seeing the number stabilising in the Dublin region. The delivery of homes is key to meeting the needs of those experiencing homelessness. We will provide social housing solutions for more than 21,000 individuals and families this year and my Department, local authorities and approved housing bodies will continue to work closely, quickly and proactively to identify further solutions and increase social housing supports so we can give those in emergency accommodation the help they need.

I am concerned that the effect of this Bill is to imply that rough sleeping is somehow acceptable and that owners or tenants of properties should in some way support this or at least not prevent it. We are well aware of the many anti-social behaviours that happen, unfortunately, on our streets during the day but we have the supports in place at night for rough sleepers to get them into secure accommodation, keep them safe and then get them into successful pathways to more sustainable accommodation in the future. I fundamentally disagree that this Bill is an appropriate response to homelessness. I believe that providing Housing First is a better solution and I know that I am supported in that view by our housing partners, such as the Peter McVerry Trust, which supports the Housing First model.

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