Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising this issue again today. We have had many discussions on this over the past year or two. The Department publishes data on a monthly basis for the number of homeless persons accommodated in all forms of emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities. We record and publish those figures in order to make policy. We base our policy changes, interventions and allocations of money on facts. That is our job. Any comparisons we make are based on being able to formulate policy on the basis of information and facts. These reports are based on data provided by housing authorities and are produced through the pathway accommodation and support system, PASS, the single integrated national data information system on State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements overseen by housing authorities. The monthly reports outline the number of individuals accommodated in emergency accommodation over a designated survey week, including a breakdown by local authority.

The report for January was published last week. It shows that 5,837 adult individuals used State-funded emergency accommodation nationally during the survey week. This included 1,517 families with 3,267 dependants. As the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, outlined to the Dáil last week, the increased number of homeless adults reflects the 200 permanent new beds put in place in the Dublin region towards the end of 2017, as well as the emergency beds added as part of the cold weather initiatives undertaken over the winter period. The Minister knows well that the Deputy says people are already homeless but when he says these new beds are in the system, he is referring to factual data. These people were recorded who might not have been recorded before. That is all he is saying. He is not saying that they have come out because he has provided the beds. The Deputy knows that is not what he said.

These beds would have been fully in use during January. The introduction of the new beds has brought increased numbers of rough sleepers into the services provided by the local authorities and their non-governmental organisation, NGO, partners. While the increase in the numbers is certainly regrettable, it is clear that rough sleepers are better off in emergency services receiving the necessary supports and assistance than they would be rough sleeping. We have seen this more than ever over the past ten days when extraordinary efforts were made to ensure that accommodation was available for all rough sleepers during the extremely cold weather. I take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the local authorities, the NGOs and in the Department for the incredible work they did in taking care of our most vulnerable citizens. They went beyond the call of duty as they tried to encourage people to come in.

The Deputy referred to people being sectioned. They are not being sectioned by a politician, a Minister or a housing officer. This is done by a doctor on medical grounds.

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