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

I thank the Deputy for his questions. I do not doubt he has done much work in this area and I am well aware he has engaged with my officials for a number of weeks on a couple of cases. The place finder service was only rolled out beyond Dublin and Cork at the beginning of the year. Of the 20 local authorities which requested a place finder service, 17 now have a service in place. The opening of a service in the Deputy's area will bring the number to 18. This is a new measure and its implementation will not always be straightforward in every local authority area. Deputy Ó Broin is aware of cases involving people who sought support at a public counter and were turned away or told they did not have the correct documentation or information. This cases should not occur. As we encounter these problems, we will continue to ensure the local authorities fully understand their obligations and their staff are given the necessary training.

About €3.6 million will go to emergency accommodation supports in the mid-east region this year. Roughly 350 tenancies will be created each week of the year. We know that it works. We also know that with the homeless housing assistance payment, we prevented more than 1,000 families from having to enter emergency accommodation last year.

The Deputy asks an important question about what is homelessness. It is defined in the 1998 Act, but it is very much for the local authority to make the determination within the parameters and criteria set in the Act. One of the reports from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive which was published yesterday speaks to the need for us to address the question of what it is we mean by "homeless". Of course, it is a problem that has come up in the use of section 10 funding in cases in which someone is or is not in emergency accommodation and there are questions about their status. This is a conversation we are having as an Oireachtas and a society. It is a welcome one because for too many years we were not getting into the actual details of the complex challenges we were facing. We are now discussing them, from which will come new solutions.

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