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

I thank Deputy Hourigan for her question and the points raised. I want to be clear, once more, that the issue of local connection is not a barrier to anyone accessing emergency accommodation.

I followed up that letter of the 9th, which the Deputy referred to, of an announcement I had made on the 7th, and have had a meeting since with the local authorities, with housing officer and with the DRHE. I have had a couple of meetings quite recently and we followed that up with an additional letter, which I am happy to share with the Deputy.

We have capacity in our cities. We have emergency capacity and it should be used. I agree with the Deputy that we must recognise and reduce the need to use emergency accommodation, which is happening. We are looking at the capacity within our hostels that is not being used because people are being moved into permanent accommodation. Up to 3,600 voids came back into the system in 2020, and many of those were focused on homeless individuals and families where we have been able to house them permanently. This is absolutely what we want to do.

I do not have time to respond to all of the items raised but I will respond to each item directly in writing.

With regard to private accommodation and procurement, many of those elements of private accommodation were procured quickly in times of emergency when accommodation was needed. Thankfully we are starting to move away from that emergency response. I will respond in more detail to the Deputy in writing.

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