Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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50. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the effects that the housing crisis is having on children in view of the fact that parents in emergency and transitional accommodation are by their very nature in a precarious position regarding settling their children's education and after school activities and the need for additional resources for those children. [6758/17]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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This question refers to children who are living with their parents in emergency or transitional accommodation, which we can all recognise is a very precarious position in terms of children's education and other school activities, and the need for additional resources for those children.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am very conscious of the effects of the housing crisis on children when they and their families are in emergency accommodation. As part of a whole-of-Government approach to homelessness, I am committed to helping families by supporting implementation of Rebuilding Ireland action plan. It acknowledges that any medium to long-term period living in a hotel seriously affects normal family life and is particularly detrimental to children. While the concerted efforts and actions outlined in the action plan will result in families moving on from hotels more quickly, my Department, together with Tusla, is working to support parents and children in order to minimise, as much as possible, the impacts of living in emergency and transitional accommodation.

We have commenced the roll-out of a special provision under the current community child care subvention programme, which will provide access to free child care, including a daily meal, for homeless children aged 0 to 5 years, inclusive. A flat rate of €110 per week, for part-time child care over five days per week is being paid for each eligible child. Over 50 child care services have applied to be part of this programme in the Dublin region and we are examining mechanisms to make the subvention available outside of Dublin.

In recognition of the difficulties associated with homelessness and school attendance, the educational welfare office offers a range of supports. In DEIS schools where there is a home school community liaison co-ordinator on the school staff, that co-ordinator proactively engages with parents who are experiencing homelessness. The co-ordinator also supports families to access any other supports that can be of assistance to the family while they are homeless.

Children experiencing homelessness who are at risk of early school leaving are also targeted by the school completion programme. A number of supports are being worked on.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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It is good to hear some positive initiatives. I had a fear, given that many issues were taking up the attention of the Minister and the House, that housing and homelessness, in particular how they affect vulnerable young people living in such situations, would get lost along the way. We are shoring up problems for the future because young people do not have access to proper cooked meals - a lot of fast food and takeaways are being eaten. There are issues regarding laundry, privacy, homework and after-school activities. Schools in my constituency are working to try to compensate for the fact that children are living in emergency accommodation.

It is a difficult task, but there should be a time frame regarding how long people stay in emergency accommodation, following which they are of absolute priority to get out of the accommodation. Is the Minister having discussions withthe Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, on this?

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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On the last question Deputy O'Sullivan raised, I fully agree with her on the amount of time that children ought to be with their families in that context. I have held discussions with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and some of his advisers, along with my advisers. I have also raised questions and conducted investigations in the context of my constituency, Dublin South West, and the local authority's provisions for homeless families and their children. A transitional housing model is being developed that provides wonderful accommodation in a setting that is like any other rental setting for families and which provides them with some security to enable them to move on. I am aware of the detrimental impact of emergency accommodation and the need for a focus on time frames. We need to be more ambitious than we have been to date.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I know about the roll-out of Leap cards, but some people have difficulty accessing them, which may need to be examined. Children also face problems depending on where their homeless accommodation is located. It could be a significant distance from the schools which they have been attending this, which causes more disruption.

Children are living in appalling private rented accommodation. Some of the homeless and emergency accommodation is better than some of the private rented accommodation I have seen. Families are at the mercy of landlords. I acknowledge there are good progressive landlords but, unfortunately, I am seeing the other kind. As we speak, some are trying to increase rents, which will increase the number of evictions and create more stress for homeless services.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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On the issue of transport in the context of emergency accommodation, as the Deputy is aware I have been committed to trying to mitigate the impact of that since taking up office. It is important that children are able to travel between their new place of residence, including emergency accommodation, to the schools they attend. The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and Dublin City Council are working with the National Transport Authority to develop and implement the scheme.

A total of 524 Leap cards were distributed to families in hotels in 2016 as an interim measure pending the development of what is called a "ticketing solution". The percentage breakdown of the education level of the children using those cards was approximately 58% at primary school level, 19% at secondary level and 4% at third level. Therefore, they are, first, assessing in terms of the need and, second, developing what they are calling a ticketing solution, which they assure me will be in place by the end of this month.