James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy. Addressing homelessness and in particular homeless families and children is a priority for me, the Department and the Government. Ireland signed the Lisbon declaration in June 2021 which committed all signatories to work towards ending homelessness by 2030. I will continue to work with the National Homeless Action Committee to ensure an all-of-government approach to drive the ambition of the Lisbon declaration. Critical to supporting households to exit homelessness is our continued investment in the social housing programme. Budget 2026 has continued the record level of investment in social housing with €2.9 billion in capital allocated to support the delivery of social homes by local authorities. This continued investment in the social housing programme will increase the supply of stock available to allocate to households on social housing waiting lists, including households in emergency accommodation. It is important that local authorities ensure sufficient allocations are made to families in emergency accommodation. A key focus for me is to reduce the time families spend in emergency accommodation as well as prevention. In September I wrote to 21 local authorities with families in emergency accommodation for more than 12 months and asked them to use all housing schemes to exit these families from emergency accommodation. I ring-fenced an additional €50 million which I secured as part of the national development plan process to exit households who are the longest in homeless accommodation with a focus in the first instance on larger families with children and housing first clients. This funding is in addition to the €325 million already committed to the social housing second-hand acquisitions programme in 2025, bringing the second-hand acquisition programme in total to €375 million so far this year. Ensuring that families and children experiencing homelessness are provided with accommodation and supports is critical. Budget 2026 provides an allocation of €513.5 million to provide homeless emergency accommodation and supports. Capital funding of €50 million has been allocated to support the provision and maintenance of quality emergency and transitional accommodation. The new housing plan will be published shortly. It will include robust and targeted actions that will increase the provision of housing.

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