Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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While some families will struggle and find Christmas difficult it will be business as usual for many and we will see spending in shops, homes and bars and on travel. It is good that we do not lose sight of those who are homeless. There is a story behind every homeless person and nobody makes a career decision to end up homeless. I represent Dublin Central where it is a major issue but where there are also great organisations such as the Simon Communities, Focus Ireland, Depaul, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army, the Capuchin day centre and Dublin City Council. They provide vital services such as emergency services and trying to progress strategies such as The Way Home and Pathway to Home. I acknowledge the great generosity of Irish people. Other initiatives such as Safetynet also exist.

It is difficult to obtain accurate information on homelessness for many reasons. The concept is complex. When compiling figures on homelessness does one include those who are squatting, those on a sofa for a night, those moving from sofa to sofa and those coming out of hospital, rehabilitation services or prison with nowhere to go? We know what we see on the streets five minutes from here and we have information from the housing lists and statistics. The homeless service at Dublin City Council recently found 87 people were sleeping rough in the month of November, which was the same as the previous month. We know of the very sad death of a homeless person in Wicklow recently. There has been an increase in Cork. A very frightening statistic is that from the beginning to the end of the Celtic tiger, the number of homeless people in the country doubled.

Demands on the services are increasing but the services have the same or fewer resources. I wish to speak about those in addiction who are trying to stay clean and sober but end up in the same accommodation as those still using or still drinking. I am glad the Minister of State is present because if the property tax is applied to social housing associations and local authorities struggling as it is with accommodation it will set them back further. They are trying to progress this and I must give them credit.

While aspects of homelessness are complex, we know that one simple solution is to provide more housing with support. In that respect, I am glad the Minister of State is here to take this Topical Issue and I hope she will have some insight into it.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan for raising this issue. I have just come from Blessington Street, in her own constituency, where the Simon Community was opening a homeless facility for 12 people with support. I agree with her that good work is certainly being done by a number of voluntary housing associations.

It is never acceptable to have people sleeping on the streets. At this time of the year, more than any other, we seem to recognise a problem that endures throughout the year, every year. My Department's role involves providing a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in regard to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless people rests with the housing authorities. The implementation of the homeless strategy at local and regional level is being carried out through the framework of statutory homelessness action plans adopted by housing authorities.

The stubbornly high number of rough sleepers in Dublin, as reported by Dublin City Council recently, reflects the gravity of the challenge facing the Government, the voluntary sector and other agencies in tackling the homelessness problem. I have sought to put in place real solutions for people who find themselves without a home. Investment of almost €50 million has been provided by central and local government in the provision of homeless services in 2012.

Rough sleeping is monitored closely countrywide but particularly in Dublin where the problem is most prevalent. The Dublin region's outreach team works on an ongoing basis to engage with all individuals sleeping rough, with the specific goal of moving people into accommodation through the Dublin City Council central placement service. The problem of rough sleeping is limited outside Dublin, with Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Galway city councils reporting sufficient bed capacity on a nightly basis and that no one is sleeping rough due to the lack of a bed. The rough sleeper count for Cork, as reported recently in the media, does not appear to be consistent with the figures supplied by the Cork region's outreach team. Those figures report two to three rough sleepers in Cork.

Unfortunately, housing authorities consistently report the existence of a small number of entrenched rough sleepers who are unwilling to avail of accommodation. I take the Deputy's point that sometimes the accommodation may not be appropriate, particularly if there is drug taking involved and they are trying to avoid certain behaviour. This group has been particularly difficult to engage with due to mental health issues and aggressive behaviour. Outreach teams continue to try to provide solutions for this group and to encourage these persons to avail of accommodation. Where they refuse to do so, outreach teams ensure that they have sufficient food and bedding.

Progress has been made in the area of homelessness but unfortunately that is not enough. The recent Dublin figures are a stark reminder of the complexity of the homelessness issue and the difficulties in finding answers to it. It is not tolerable that anyone should sleep on the streets. It is not good enough and we cannot sit idly by.

One of my priorities is to ensure that homeless people have access to secure, stable and appropriate accommodation. Short-term interventions are not a long-term solution to homelessness. We need to continue to focus on long-term solutions to homelessness. I acknowledge, however, that we do need a level of short-term accommodation for urgent situations.

The community and voluntary sector has a critical role to play in dealing with homelessness, especially so in these difficult times. I am especially pleased to see the agencies engaging in housing and resettlement solutions, in line with Government policy on housing-first and housing-led initiatives, rather than managing people in emergency accommodation. Fostering a resettlement culture that promotes independent living is the key to tackling homelessness.

It is important that any initiative dealing with homelessness should be progressed in collaboration with the relevant regional homeless consultative fora. They were specifically established to allow the community and voluntary sector to work in partnership with the State sector in progressing initiatives to overcome homelessness, and to ensure that such initiatives do not disadvantage other persons in need of housing. These fora consist of individuals with particular expertise relevant to the implementation of homeless initiatives.

The annual provision of current funding from the Department should provide for sufficient bed capacity to accommodate all those in need of emergency accommodation nationwide. I acknowledge that, sadly, there are still people on the streets.

Deputy O'Sullivan sought figures and, as she knows, the rough sleepers count takes place regularly. There are also figures on homelessness from the Central Statistics Office that arise from the census, but they do not always tally with some of the data we get from local authorities. There is therefore some work to do in determining exactly who is homeless and who should be counted in the figures. I acknowledge that we need to do some more work on that.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Homeless people say they get to a point where they feel they are almost invisible and are of absolutely no value. As a result, their self esteem and dignity disappear. That is where the services are vital and do such great work.

About a month ago, I visited Brother Kevin in the Capuchin Day Centre in Bow Street, Dublin. He told me that his food bill for the year is €1.9 million. On top of that he also has to pay water and waste charges. He gets €350,000 from Dublin City Council and €100,000 from the HSE, so those figures do not add up. There is an increasing demand for food parcels and other services provided at the centre.

I welcome the Minister of State's answer which admitted that while progress has been made, it is unfortunately not enough. Everybody knows what to do but it is a question of joining up the dots. The people to talk to are those who are providing such services. On a practical basis, we must examine how much the service is taking in and what it has to give out. If the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government or the Department of Social Protection can bring any influence to bear on water and waste charges, it would give them so much more money that they can then spend on services for the homeless.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank Deputy O'Sullivan and fully agree with her that we need to talk regularly to those who provide such services. I again pay tribute to the Capuchins, the Simon Community, Focus Ireland and all the other voluntary bodies that do tremendous work in this area. We must ensure that we are all working together in partnership to deliver the best possible result for those who need these services. One of the things I most admire about the voluntary sector is that, as well as emergency accommodation and soup runs, they are also supporting people who have moved into either local authority or private rented accommodation. They thus ensure that such people can maintain those homes, which is a crucial element of their work.