Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for the question. Addressing homelessness, as we mentioned at a committee meeting earlier, is an absolute priority for me and my colleagues in government and, no doubt, everyone in the House. The programme for Government commits to reducing and preventing homelessness and provides details on how the Government will approach this challenge. The national implementation plan for Housing First was published in September 2018. The plan, which includes an overall target of 663 tenancies in the period from 2018 to 2021, is a joint initiative of the Department, the Department of Health, the HSE and local authorities. Background information, national targets and regional targets are available in the Housing First national implementation plan document.

As of the end of June, the most recent figures for 2020 show that 449 individuals were housed under the Housing First programme, including 302 individuals who have been housed since the publication of the national implementation plan. The programme for Government further commits to a continued expansion of the Housing First programme. I agree with the Deputy that it is a model we should be following. It is one that is already working here and it should be expanded further.

There will be a focus on construction and acquisition of one bedroom homes and the provision of the relevant support services. I put that out through the call for housing earlier this year within four weeks of taking over as Minister. We need more one bedroom properties and we need to ensure that wraparound services are available.

An assessment of need is being undertaken to examine the number of individuals experiencing homelessness who require the supports of Housing First. This assessment will inform the future expansion of Housing First, including any increase in targets for individual local authorities and where we expand the Housing First initiative into other regions of the country.

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